The Shadower
by Punk19
Summary: With their just being returned to Moas, Angel and her sons are trying to settle into their new environment; it's not long before they become stressed by some force that continues to shadow and torment them and it's not long before their family adds more stress to what they're feeling. Who is shadowing them and will he stop to allow them to return to their former, new way of living?
1. Prologue

Chilly wind, better than frostbite gaining temperatures, and heavy, sloppy snow to the side, he was all too happy to be where he was; after teleporting in, then taking in his surroundings, he turned to look at the apartment that he had appeared before. The address that was on one of the papers, that was in the manila envelope, that was in his jean bag, had said 14235 Forest Hill Dr., Green River, Wyoming—after staring at this address, memorizing it for the feat that had yet to be done, he had placed it back in the envelope and then teleported to where his new station was.

There was around three feet of snow underfoot; not only was it nice and sloppy on the top but it was also very compact and frozen on the bottom—this made progress towards the housing difficult for a few seconds. He slipped and slid for all of two or three feet before finally finding the intelligence needed to traverse such terrain; once he had a steady set of legs and feet under him, and was a little more on the balanced side, he went towards the four steps that made up the housing's front porch. The wind, which had dropped to being slight after his appearance in the area occurred, grew fierce right when he reached the first of the porch's four steps. His hoodie was blown back for all of five seconds, and his body shook violently, before the decision to turn away from the wind was made—he could chance a few second reprieve from going to the house, and in knocking on its door, and in seeing the people that he was there to see for the first time in nearly four hundred years; with nothing to prevent him from living here, or from taking his place among the ones that lived here, he could let the weather slow him down a bit.

"Knock your feet against the bottom board of the porch railing—while she, and they, will be thrilled to see you again she, and they, won't be but so happy over seeing the snow that your feet will be bringing in." the little voice in his mind said.

Once at the porch's top, he kicked his boots against the bottom board of the railing; once all of the snow was free from his boots, and once the laces that were on his boots were loosened, he went towards the front door. The only adult of the residence, along with being overjoyed in seeing him again, would probably rush him out of his boots, and socks, and then into the kitchen for something hot to eat and then drink—even though the boots that he was wearing were of the heavy-duty sort they were old and there was a hole in the bottom sole of the right one; he would want to be out of them, and his cold, and wet, socks, as soon as possible. His body was wracked in another fierce shiver right when he reached the door; with his bag dangling from his right shoulder, and with the hand that was attached to the arm that went to that shoulder clutching the single strap that was on the bag tightly, he reached forward to knock on the door.

Knock, knock.

He waited; memories of the ones who he was there to see flooded his mind while he did so. The people who lived in this residence were better than fine; not only had he been raised among the sons of the only adult who lived in the apartment a few times but he revered each and every one of them favoribly. He, for a long time now, had regarded the family that lived in this housing as his true family and he was more than glad to now have the distinct pleasure of possibly becoming a full part of them.

"The people of Europe would be jealous over seeing this much snow." he thought.

Yes indeedy would they! All of that white stuff would just turn their eyes green with envy, and cause their mouths to curl up and their noses to flare; the people of Europe had said nothing adverse about the drought, which had started five years ago, then they had started whining after it was all sunshine, or cloudy, and cold without a single flake of snow being seen to be falling. He, as of the last five years, had been taking advantage of there being no snow to hinder the activities that he had been forced to do by his former wards. While the given chores were many, and much the same, he hadn't had to worry about where he was to put his feet or about how slick one surface was from another—in a way, the five-year snow-drought had caused him to all but forget how dangerous it was when one walks freely in snow like that of what was on the ground in his present location; he made a mental note right then and there to remember all of what he had learned by trial and error during his days with his torturing ex-families.

Knock, knock.

He had waited just a single minute before knocking again; a pang of fear struck him after his knuckles struck the wood of the housing's front door—what if one or more were sick, or if they were all sleeping? Regardless of their not seeing him in nearly four hundred years, they would not be pleased over his repeated, fast succession door knocks—he best just stand and wait for one of the housing's dwellers to come answer the door.

What could they be doing inside? It seemed so quiet outside... the apartment, with its dark cream paint being frosted over in places, and with some of the brown-painted shudders and exterior window sills having icicles on them, looked quite dark and shut-up from the outside... Could everyone be sleeping? Could one or more of them of gotten sick from the current weather; the only adult in the housing might just of made the decision to let everyone over-sleep so not to bother the one, or ones, that were feeling poorly. He had seen that the living room windows, and the one window that, he presumed, belonged to the kitchen, were closed; the light blue drapes, that were placed before the living room windows, and the regal blue, pin-tuck drape, that was before the one window that he presumed was in the kitchen, were drawn—this, he knew by instinct, would only be done when the ones who lived in the housing weren't at home or were asleep.

If they were up and about, what were they doing? Could the only adult in the housing be whipping up several cups of hot cocoa or tea, or making something hot to eat; what were her sons doing? Were there game consoles, with compatible games, in the housing, or were there board games or card games in the housing? Maybe one of the adult's sons was getting ready to play a game of Gin rummy with one of his bruders; if a game system was in the housing, and if it had more than enough games to it, then one or more of the adult's sons could be playing that. If there were magazines in the housing, they might well be reading or looking at them. Maybe they were all just seated before the housing's tv—watching the news, or some program, while staying warm.

"Could there be no power on to the neighborhood?" he thought.

After giving it a good consideration about knocking again, he turned then gave the area that he was to live in a better looking over. At first glance, it looked like a better than fine neighborhood. There were apartments here and there but there was also enough space to breathe; the yard that his new station was on, while looking hilly in some areas, wasn't a consistent steep slope; and it looked like the area wasn't traffic-busy. When he looked at the other housings that were in the area he was astonished to learn that each was lit up. The lights on the front porches were all on, the drapes before the windows were drawn, and there were humans walking around either inside or outside of each dwelling. One of the humans was doing a chore that he had been given to do on each winter season—or, at least until five years ago. This human was shoveling the driveway; he was all bundled up for the weather and, from what he was able to hear, he was talking to someone. It took him all but a second to notice that this human had one of them hands-free cellular phones connected to his ear—the human was shoveling the driveway while speaking on the phone.

"Okay... so the neighborhood has power. So what; maybe one or more of them is listening to some music and wasn't able to hear the door being knocked on."

After taking in the driveway shoveling human he turned then knocked on the door a little louder; not only did he grow colder but he was gripped in a feeling that he didn't much like after doing so. His glove-less hand shook after it collided with the cold wood of the door and his well-muscled body became pocked as the not-liked feeling swept over him. When his hoodie was blown free of his head, he was both fast and slow in grabbing and then throwing it over the part of his body that he didn't want to be exposed—either to the elements or to the out and about humans. Once the hoodie was back to being where it was suppose to be, and once his hand was back to being at his side, he started shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Nearly five minutes had fallen since his arrival to the residence and since his first knock on the door occurred; what could they be doing?

"Wind's really howling out here, maybe they can't hear the door being knocked on because of that?" he thought aloud.

This thought was strong but so, too, was the one of the family that lived in the residence leaving after some unknown event happened that caused them to be evicted from their home. Maybe a tree had fallen, and then taken some of the apartment down, or they might well of gotten "cold feet" because of the weather and decided to go somewhere else before decent or halfway decent weather returned or—

"A sort of message would of been left for you if either of them two things had happened." the little voice inside him said.

"Really? Would they really leave me a message to hook-up with them at some other place?" he asked the little voice.

"Come on—you know these people! They would never abandon you. Knock again then, if no one answers, try the door to see if its unlocked. If it is, go on in and then make yourself comfortable. If not, then check around some. Look for a note of some sort or ask one of the hu—"

"No,"

There was no way in hell that he'd be strolling up to one of the area's humans and then asking if they knew where his new family was; to him, there was really no good or halfway decent human—they were all the same... they were all money-grabbing, jealous, abusing, and violent. He wanted no part of them; while his new mum was human-ish she was also the only real decent human out there. To him, his new mum was everything that the ordinary humans were not—kind, sweet, nurturing, understanding, and patient, that was her.

"Three hundred and eighty years is a long time... maybe she's changed. Instead of being that she decided to become like all of the other hu—"

"On the other times that you showed up at her place she was non-different." the little voice inside him said.

For a brief moment, he panicked. He charged down the four steps of the residence's front porch, then he fell to his rump twice after stepping on the ice that was under the snow, then he ran to nearly the street before stopping and then turning back around. The apartment was taken in a little more now.

The mailbox, which was one of them green metal types, had the numbers 1-4-2-3-5 on it; there was a sign just down the road that had the words Forest Hill Dr. on it; and he knew he was in Green River, Wyoming. When he looked at the driveway, he saw that it was empty; was a car owned by the family that was said to be living in the apartment? The last time that he had been raised by the adult who's said to be living in the apartment she hadn't had a car; she had just gotten around by foot or by teleportation. He gave the apartment a good, long stare—the paint on the outside to the side, it looked like one of them old apartments that were located in the state of New York. The papers that he had hadn't mentioned where the apartment had been gained; they had just listed the address, and the ones who lived in the housing... a number had been listed but he hadn't thought about dialing it—with no money on-hand, he wouldn't of been able to do so anyways.

The housing was dark and a bit creepy; in a lot of ways, it reminded him of some of the stuff that he had managed to sneak-read of H.P. Lovecraft's. He looked at the dark housing, and he listened to the one human as he shoveled the drive and spoke in his near-quiet tone of voice to whoever it was that had rang him up, for a few minutes before returning to the porch; the little voice had said for him to try the door if his attempts in gaining his new family's attention by the old fashioned way didn't work and he was about to do so. Once on the porch, he sighed deeply then reached forward. His hand wrapped around the cold metal of the door knob then, with a single twist, twisted it; quite surprisingly, the door was unlocked—a sudden gust of wind was what caused it to be blown right open. He rushed into the housing, then slammed the door shut, then turned around—the idea of his walking into a trap came to his mind for only a second before he discarded it.

"Hello?" he said. There was a panel to the left of the door; he slapped one of the switches that were on it then he blinked his eyes after the hallway was lit up.

It was cold in here! It almost felt like no one had ever lived here, which scared him a bit. After staring down the hallway, at the carpeted stairs that led up to the apartment's second level, he breathed a shaky breath then started on his way towards the first room that opened up on the hallway. He was expecting to turn and then see a different family, all huddled together, looking scared almost out of their wits end about there being a probable intruder to their abode; he envisioned the man of the house standing, then shouting at him, then drawing some sort of weapon and then charging at him for only a second before the rational side of his brain kicked in. The address on the piece of paper had said that this was where his new family resided—his new family consisted of a single, adult woman and her four, mid-teenage sons... it didn't consist of a "battle"-hardened man, his too-fat wife, and their conceited twin daughters. His new family would welcome him warmly; no shouting for him to get the hell out, no promises of the law being sicked on him, no broom, or other weapon, would be taken to him, and he wouldn't be running for his life.

What he saw, after turning, and then taking the room that he had walked towards in, wasn't what he had envisioned or figured to find. There was a sleeper sofa placed before a coffee table; a Laz-Y-Boy recliner was to one end of the coffee table while, close to the wall, across from the table's other end, sat one of them old, plug-in radiator heaters. The tv was sitting on an entertainment center. That was all that was in the room; there were no recreational things in the room at all. The entertainment center looked to of had some stuff on it—there were square or rectangular places that were surrounded by dust on the piece—but it was just as bare as could be.

The bag that he had on him was placed on the room's coffee table right when he was taking notice of the one thing that looked off in the room—there were two or three areas on the walls where it looked like blood had been splashed at. He gave each section of blood splatter a long stare before moving on to the residence's other rooms—to his recollection, none of the ones that he was to live with, and call his family, had greenish colored blood; his new bruders, while not having the normal, red blood of a human, didn't have plain green-colored blood.

"Dark, creepy housing and blood on the walls... almost like I'm stepping into the scene of a possible kidnap or murder." he thought as he went into the kitchen.

The kitchen, which he should of gotten a warm, toasty feeling from, was just as cold and uninviting as could be; everything that was suppose to be in the room was in the room... everything but his new family, that was. When he went down the one hallway that came off the kitchen, he was stricken with automatic fear—the walls of any hallway would be decorated with framed photographs... this one was just as bare as could be. Had the one hallway that he had started off as being on been just as bare too? To his recollection, he did believe that he hadn't seen anything on the hallway that ran off the front door.

The doors to each of the rooms that were on the hallway were open; he was fast in cocking his head to the side when he looked into the first of the hallway's open-doored rooms. The bathroom that he came upon was very normal—it had one of them old, pedestal sinks, that was a faded "white" color; a very light blue bathtub and toilet; and cabinets for medicinal things or things that would normally be found in a bathroom in it but... but there was something very wrong about the floor. The tile floor, which was very faded and old-looking, was ripped up just before the sink. He took in the floor's ripped up state for all of a second before moving on—thoughts of why the floor was ripped up in the bathroom were thought for all of a second before the shock from his taking in the appearance of what he thought was the downstairs bedroom set in on him.

"Someone was here..." he thought as he walked into the room.

That was a fact! Like with the living room, he could see where things had recently been placed—the squares that were on the two dressers' surfaces had dust around their edges and so did the squares and rectangles that were on the room's one bookcase. There was a "hint" on the walls of things having, at one time, been on them—the "darker" areas that lay around the "lighter" ones were good indictators of there being, at one time, something on them. While the beds were made up all nice and neat they were much like the kitchen: cold and uninviting. He wasted no time in getting out of the room after going into it.

The cold, he discovered a few minutes later, was coming from the residence's back door being wide open; there looked to be an area where someone had crashed into it, and the strike plate was very unstable. Upon going outside, he saw another area where a splash of greenish colored blood was. He placed his hand on this very dried up, and frozen, blood then, after noting that it, again, didn't belong to one of his new family members, he stood up then went back to the apartment; the door was promptly shut behind him.

Things, as far as he was concerned, went downhill and fast after he checked the state of the other rooms. Fear wrapped itself around him as he found the upstairs bedroom to be in the exact same shape as that of the downstairs bedroom; the downstairs closet had some things in it while the upstairs closet was completely naked... the upstairs bathroom looked relatively normal and furnished in comparison to the downstairs one. He was fast in checking the upstairs bedroom then, like a raging bullet, he charged down to the kitchen, where he was fast in finding the final room that he had yet to check. Only after checking this room did the many scenarios of what he had happened upon start tallying away.

"Blood in the living room, and on the concrete slab that's up against the apartment's back... maybe someone uninvited came in and then got hurt and, maybe, that person has my new family." that was the first scenario that he thought of.

"Maybe one of my new bruders had an accident and got hysterical over it." this second scenario said. "While coming in, he splashed blood across the concrete slab that's up against the apartment's back, then on the living room walls; one of the older bruders saw him, or mum saw him, then ushered him to the hospital, where they could all be now."

"A sort of welcome-to-the-family test is being given to me... a bunch of bugs, or packets, of green liquid were bought and then squashed, or splashed, on the walls, and on the concrete slab, then the family ran off after setting the scene of what I'd see after getting here." this was the third scenario that he thought of.

"Instead of being frank in filling out my new forms, and wanting to have me as a family member, my new mum just filled out the forms as a sort of joke then, after hearing that her joke was being taken seriously, she packed up the family then moved somewhere else so she wouldn't have to worry about taking my sorry ass on as a son." as much as it saddened him, this was the fourth scenario that he thought of.

He did a pacing session in the living room before deciding to leave the apartment; the human that was still shoveling the snow from his driveway, but who had since concluded his cellular phone conversation, was approached. In his hysterical state, he didn't just ask the man if he had seen his family. He grabbed this poor man, who stood around five foot eleven, and who had to weigh around a hundred and seventy pounds, then he gave him two shakes before asking _where are they_. This poor human screamed, then held the Crucifix that hung around his neck up at him, before being released; he trudged back to the apartment in a daze afterwards.

"You're here but they're not. There's blood on the walls, and on the concrete slab that's against the building's back, and there's places where certain things use to be present on..." his mind ran away on him after he re-entered the apartment. "You're all alone—"

"They wouldn't just up and leave me like this." he said aloud.

"You sure of that? Three hundred and eighty years is a long time—people do change, you know." his conscious said.

"They wouldn't abandon me." he said strongly.

"Look around you! Either something happened here or they made a swift getaway after hearing that your adoption was pushed through." his conscious screamed at him.

"They're somewhere... They just... I came here at the wrong time and—"

"They've abandoned you, that's what happened."

"Nooooo!" he bellowed, then started speaking as if they were actually in the apartment with him. "Prove the voice wrong! Please don't tell me that you've abandoned me like everyone else has!" his hands became woven in the fabric of the remnants of his blue hoodie for only a second before dropping to become wrapped around the biceps of his arms. He started rambling like a crazy person after his hands were wrapped around his biceps. "You're the only ones who've stuck by me! Where are you? What have I done to make you run off? Hello? Hello? Anyone in the apartment? Helllooooo!"


	2. Chapter 2

November 27... it was hard to believe that it was close to being forty-eight hours since her homecoming occurred, and it was also hard to believe that it was closing on two days since the full of her employer's family was returned to the house. She, and the twenty-nine others who had accompanied her, and her employer and his daughter, on the trip to Earth had yet to get back in the groove of being back home but she was sure that, in the coming days, they'd all settle down and return to schedule again.

As expected, things had been a bit crazy for the last forty-five hours—but not as crazy as it had been on Earth these past three months, though. The messy antics of trying to track down and then capture the bulk of her employer's family to the side, it had mostly been the weather that had been experienced on the planet that had made her come close to wanting to ask to be sent home—she had never seen such a messy seasonal period before and she hoped to never see it, or go through it, again.

While it had been decently warm during the first few weeks of their stay on the planet the weather had done a severe turn in changing about late-September—it had gotten cold and fast in the area where their employer had picked to land his ship at. The trees had lost their colorful foliage; the ground had gone from being soft to hard; the local animals had left for their winter homes; and the wind had carried a good, cold nip to it that had caused her to damn near want to remain inside the ship. The snow had started falling after two of her employer's four sons were caught; with her being one who preferred warmer temperatures to colder ones, it had been no surprise that she had detested the fact of the snow making an appearance or of the sudden weather change that had taken place in their little corner of Green River, Wyoming.

She was a creature of habit—she liked seeing colorful foliage, and animals moving around without a care in the world, and flowers blooming, and new life being born... with the sudden change in the weather, that hadn't been able to be seen for long. While fighting the urge in wanting to ask about being sent home she had kept herself busy, and warm—her male co-workers had done the same on the latter. Her male co-workers had acted like their old, normal selves; no hint of their being depressed because of the sudden change in the weather, or of their wanting to be sent home because of the weather, had been disclosed. It had just been her, and a small handful of her female co-workers, who had shown the signs of depression—naturally, the kids who had been in the ship had been blue over not being able to go outside but their depression had been gained from the pure fact of their not being allowed to go out to play with the stuff that had been falling from the sky.

Children just loved playing in or with the snow; they loved to make snowballs and then throw them, they loved to make snowmen, they loved to run around and kick the stuff around for the pure sake of doing so, and they enjoyed having a rousing snowball fight... She had just one child and he was like any other child when it came to snowy weather—once that first flake was seen, or once he woke up, and then saw that the ground was covered in a sheet of white, he went crazy in wanting to play with it.

Her husband, just after she left to go to Earth with her twenty-nine co-workers, and with her employer and his daughter, had taken their son to one of the moons that orbited Moas; non-surprisingly, he had picked Fulnoos as the moon that they were to spend some time on. It snowed eight months out of the year on Fulnoos and it was also very cold during them months... her husband had picked this moon solely because of the season that had been going on and because there had been more than ten feet of snow on the ground in certain places. Before leaving, she had told her husband to keep both himself and their son well-clothed and to, of course, have fun and be safe while they were on the moon—an order for them to not be outside for more than an hour had also been made. Not only had her husband said that they would but he had also said that she had nothing to worry about with them during their stay on the moon; her son, on the other hand, had groaned before saying that she was already making him grow pruned. She had said _well, that's just too bad; you can grow as pruned as can be but you obey me. I don't want you coming home lacking any fingers, toes, or an ear or a nose._ Twelve hours after she and her co-workers were on their way to Earth, she had gotten a call from her husband; he had said that he and their son had had a blast and that they were back in their cabin and that they were warming up. He had also said that they were getting ready to chow down on some pizza rolls and have some hot cocoa before watching some tv and then taking a nap. She had been glad to hear his voice and to hear that they were doing as she had asked of them to do while on Fulnoos.

"Hello, Attaec." Mikia Khrelan said when she saw her exiting the stairwell that ran down from the first level of her employer's mansion.

"Hello Mikia—how's your husband?" Attaec Ionif asked. Seeing as she had a few minutes to spare, she stopped to speak with Mikia.

"A little sore—looking forward to working again." Mikia replied. "No one these past two days has told me a thing on what's going on upstairs—is it true that they were all captured and are in the house?"

"Master Tazir is a _very_ happy man—he has all five of his children, and his wife, in the house again." Attaec replied.

She spoke with Mikia for a few minutes—a few things were disclosed while others were not—then she went on her way. With herself being as tired as she was, she said not a thing to the other spouses that she walked by or to any of her co-workers who were either standing out in the hallway or who were also on their way home.

While this portion of the mansion belonged to her employer it didn't, technically, belong to him; the man had set this portion of his residence to the side for his lived-in help—he had generously made available two hundred and fifty spacious apartments for certain members of his staff. With the exception of the hallway's floor, walls, and ceiling, the ones who lived down here had full right in doing as they pleased with the apartments that they were given.

The carpet that ran down the stairs, and down the hallway that she was on, was light red in color; there were dark red and multi-pink, crystal-like designs in the carpet's center while, running along the sides, was a single white line. The walls on either side of her were brown; there was a strip of dark brown wood placed at every six inch intervals on both of the hallway walls. Along with the usual decor of framed photographs and portraits of flowers, waterfalls, and ocean and park scenes there were photographs of her co-workers with their employer on the walls; Master Tazir was a right nice man... he wasn't only very respectful and polite but he was also very patient with the ones that worked for him. He had a wonderful relationship with most of the men and women that worked for him.

The ceiling above was an eggshell white color; a long bar ran down its center—a yellow beam, that was keeping the hallway very well lit, was in this bar. No windows were present on this hallway—with this portion of the house being underground, this was normal. The apartments that were on the hallway were also lacking windows. The other hallways that were located underneath her employer's mansion, and their stationed apartments, were design-duplicates of this one.

She and her husband had lucked out on being allowed to take up one of the hallway apartments; soon after being interviewed, then being hired to work for the man, and then saying something about her and her family of then two looking to move to a better location—she and her husband had been living in the very crowded, and crime-invested, city of Vructokan at the time of her being hired to work for her employer—, she had been asked to follow him to where the hallway-placed apartments were. She and her husband had been given Apartment 67 to live in; they didn't have to worry about the electric, cable, phone, internet, water, or gas bill—her employer took care of that for them. She and her husband also didn't have to worry about the price of repairs; if something happened, or if some sort of damage was done in the apartment that they lived in, her employer took care of it.

She had asked her employer right after being told all of this why he was being so nice in footing the bills and repairs; he had replied with _you guys have enough to deal with on working for me, why add more to that burden?_ She couldn't help but admire and respect that; TazirVile Surfeit was a fine employer and she was more than glad to be working for him. Like so many others, his name had been signed—in her blood, as was custom of one in her species to do when Loyalty Pledging was done—to her Loyalty Papers; this had been done ten years after she had taken up the task of working for him, she had never looked back or chided herself for making the decision to be loyal to him afterwards.

While on her way down the hallway, she stopped then turned to look at the door that had the number 37 on it. She hesitated for a few seconds before stretching her arm forward and then knocking on the door—getting home, undressing herself from her dress, then putting on a much more appropriate outfit before going to see how her husband and son were could be put off for a few minutes; she was suddenly driven to saying hello to one of her co-workers, who she hadn't seen in over a month.

"Hello," a female Goblin, or Goblinette, as one of the female gender in her species was called, said after answering the door. This woman had long, gorgeous, silky smooth blonde hair, that flowed down to the middle of her back; her skin was a light purple color while the color shade of her eyes was light blue. The appearance of her face wasn't only very feminine but quite gentle to the eye. She was wearing a gray dress, that had a ruffled collar, and short sleeves, on it; a gray ribbon was tied around her waist. The pair of gray-colored, slip-on shoes, that were on her feet, were normal in all attributes.

"Hello Abara, is Mr. Modulavich available for a short talk?" Attaec asked.

"Is it important?" the Goblinette asked. "My husband is still feeling the effects of his pains, poor thing."

"No, it's not direly imp—"

"Abara, who is it?"

Mrs. Modulavich let her in without a further question or another word being said; once she was in the apartment, and once the door was securely shut behind her, she started being a bit rude in taking in her surroundings.

A short stretch of hallway led from the door to the living room; a brown leather couch was in the room and, right beside it, sat a matching, but rather old looking, chair. A brown wood coffee table sat before the couch; across from the coffee table and couch was a white oak entertainment center that had a 30" flat screen tv on it. A video player, a music system, and one of them game cubes were in the entertainment center's open storage areas. Mr. Modulavich, who was fifteen thousand years her senior, was sitting on the room's one chair while two of his five children were busy in playing the game cube.

Homsi Modulavich, who had been sent home in late October after sustaining some injuries to himself, was TazirVile Surfeit's most trusted employee—the man was also Master Tazir's wife's most trusted employee as well. All three were good friends and regarded one another well. The man was one who worked hard and, in fact, "legend" said that it was his hard-working attitude, along with his uncanny ability of being around whenever something came up that their employer needed to get off his chest, that had gained him his Most Trusted title. He had gained the title of Most Trusted at year seventy-three of his working for their employer; before him, it had just been a man by the name of Eldass Zultoa who had had the sole title of Most Trusted—this man was still considered one of Master Tazir's Most Trusted employees but, since Homsi's appearance and title earning occurred, he had been given the gentle "boot" to being their employer's second Most Trusted employee.

"Mrs. Ioniff," Homsi, a brown-skinned Goblin, who had large, expressive, blue eyes, that were set in a very serious, and, to her, very handsome face, said. The man's elf-like ears may look like that of the standard set that a Goblin possessed but, in regards to a normal Goblin, who's ears were hairless, they had light gray hair growing out from them. He was wearing a pair of brown formal pants; the white t-shirt that he was wearing wasn't tucked in. The pair of light brown slippers that were on his feet, which were currently all propped up on the chair's ottoman, were very normal. "Tell me, there's been a lot of activity going on in the hallway these past two days—Master Tazir is back, right?"

"Yes, he landed his ship in the hangar forty-five hours ago." Attaec replied.

"Figured that he was back..." Homsi trailed off.

She automatically knew that he was thinking around the fact that he hadn't expected for their employer to of been returned to his home for two straight days; it was clear to her that the man hadn't been let in on anything that had been going on these past few days. She decided to change that a bit.

"He had all who work for him remain in the ship until his wife and sons were inside."

"That's good—haven't been able to watch much of the news because of Arenzoar and Dlahsleon's habit of taking up the tv so I'm virtually clueless on what's going on." Homsi said, then explained why he didn't know what was going on with his employer.

"They were all very, very nervous during the de-boarding—Young Master Hazaar and Lazeer especially."

"Young Master L—" Homsi sat upright; he winced before dropping back in his chair. "So, the article that I was able to read in the paper yesterday is correct. Young Master Lazeer is alive?"

"Yes—alive and very healthy," Attaec replied. "He inherited a mild form of his father's photo sensitivity but he's very healthy."

"Good to hear... how did they act after getting inside?"

"From what I heard, much the same as they had when they were removed from the ship—the younger boys refused to leave their mother's side; the older boys were practically walking on top of their mother." Attaec answered.

"They're nervous... they'll calm down soon." Abara Modulavich said.

"Their chambers have all been squared away for them—Master Tazir decided to forgo giving them their chambers for a few days. He had them all put in a room on the second floor; I think he wants them to calm down before showing them their rooms."

"Very wise—the boys are probably not going to be leaving their mother's side for a while." Abara said. Homsi nodded his head in agreement with what his wife had just said.

Like with Mikia Khrelan, she didn't speak long with the Modulaviches—she relayed what was going on in the house, and with their employer, then she got out of the apartment. While true, she had given some insight on what was going on in the mansion, and on how the boys had been after the ship was landed, she hadn't given a full telling on what all she had heard after the boys were removed from the ship and then taken into the house or even of what had happened before the landing occurred.

Master Tazir had made a few pit-stops along the way to spend ten to fifteen minutes with his wife and sons before returning to the cockpit; Mistress Angel had taken a few strolls around the ship—always with one or more of her son's tagging at her backside—before deciding to remain in the room that she and her sons had been put in—from what she had heard, she had put a stop to her trips around the ship after seeing how nervous the ones that she had left in the room were. None of the Young Masters, as she and some of her co-workers who had pledged their Loyalty to their employer called them, had wanted to leave the ship after it was landed; Master Tazir had spent a lot of time in the room that they had been put in before deciding to lead them to the ship's open front. It had taken all of five minutes before each of the boys had left the ship—Mistress Angel, as she and some of her co-workers called her, was the one who owned the credit of having the boys leave the ship. If not for her leaving the ship, then going down the ramp, the boys would not of left it.

Eclaire Gozakaal, one of her fellow co-workers, had been in the area when the family left the ship; according to her, Mistress Angel hadn't only been speaking to her children, telling them that all was okay, and that they had nothing to be fearful of, but she had also lunged and then snapped at her husband after he tried to coax the younger of the four boys into leaving the ship.

"Master Tazir just gave the younger boy a gentle push from behind... I was not expecting for the boy to jump like he did or for his mother to turn and then lash out at her husband!" was what Eclaire had said.

Mistress Angel's eyes had been going from one location to the next and she had been very jumpy; the mention of her not having a "dry" section of skin on her had made her believe that something was very wrong with the woman. Mistress Angel, while acting like a normal mother should in being nervous about her and her sons' surroundings, should not of lunged or acted in any way, shape, or form violent with her husband. Eclaire had said that Master Tazir had acted very patient and understanding; he had done nothing further in trying to coax his sons from the ship. He had simply backed off and waited.

Once the Woman of the House, and her four sons, had exited the ship, and then gone into the house, Master Tazir and his only daughter, Eshal, had followed; only after everyone had been relocated from ship to house had the man turned to give the signal—a loud piercing whistle had been heard then she and the rest of her co-workers had started the task of leaving the ship. Nothing had been heard from Mistress Angel or her sons for the last forty-five hours—she hoped that her employer would have no further problems with his wife and sons; she hoped that they'd all calm down and settle into their new living arrangements and, furthermore, she hoped that they'd all mellow down for their father and husband.

Attaec, after reaching the apartment that her family lived in, took a deep breath then reached forward for the door knob. The key was pushed into the keyhole then a single twist did the trick in getting the door to open; she went in after the door was opened.

"—en a little over three days and still no word from Mr. TazirVile Surfeit on how his wife and sons are fairing after being relocated from Earth to our rocky, but relatively hospitable, planet of Moas. Mr. Surfeit's ship was spotted at twelve twenty-four in the morning; it hovered over the mansion owned by its driver for all of ten minutes before dropping to what is presumed the hangar that's located underground somewhere close to the property. As with there being no reports on how his wife and sons are fairing there's been no further say on the boy who was identified as LazeerVile Zuluduz Surfeit." a blue-faced, yellow-eyed, female-looking reporter was saying several hours after the maid named Attaec Ioniff entered her apartment. This odd-looking woman was wearing a long, dark blue dress; she was standing by a wrought iron gate that had vines and mold growing on it—the gold-colored T and S that were on the gate was what told him where the reporter was.

With a yawn, he grabbed the six inch long remote, that was a mostly black color, but that had a series of white and gray buttons on it, from the room's bedside table; the simple action of pressing his finger against the power button did the trick in both silencing the reporter and shutting the tv off.

The reporters, he bet, would have a field day with the events that had happened between now and two days ago; he was still on the fence on some of the details of how he and his brothers had been removed from the ship while he was quite clear with everything else that had happened both before and after that event happened.

For starters, the old man had made the decision to leave the door to the room that he and his family had been put in during the drive from Earth to Moas wide open—everyone and their mothers had been able to see the happenings of what went on in that room and everyone had damn near broke their necks in looking them over. He still had the feeling that he and his family had been treated something like exhibits in a zoo thanks to the Goblins doing their peer-in routines every ten to fifteen minutes. While ma had closed the door a bunch of times the door had always been re-opened by either a nosey Goblin or by their old man, who had plain refused to shut the door after leaving the room. The zoo-feeling had made them get extremely nervous, which was why they had grabbed their mother by either her shirt, or by one of her arms, or around her waist when the ship finally touched down in the underground hangar—there had been plenty of _it's okay, you don't have to be afraid; shhhh baby;_ and his personal favorite of _calm down, I won't let anything happen to any of you_ coming from their mother's mouth when the opportunity to leave the ship came around. Thanks to their nervousness, most, if not all, of what their mother had said to them had fallen on deaf ears.

Of the four of them, it had really looked like Lazeer was the calmest of them when it came time to finally leave the ship; this notion had all but evaporated after the open airlock hatchway doors had been seen and after their "audience" had been noticed. Lhaklar had grabbed and then squeezed their mother's arm; Hazaar had wrapped his arms around their mother's waist; and he had grabbed their mother by the back of her shirt. Lazeer, at the time of their exit of the room that was on the ship, had just been holding their mother's free hand. Their mother had done several turns, and had actually led them from the open doors of the ship twice, before leading them back and then simply having them stand before the doors—her attempts in trying to reassure them that all was fine had been done for all of three minutes before their father had come up with the idea of giving Lazeer a "small" push forward.

Nearly all hell had broke loose after Lazeer leaped for the ceiling; his youngest brother had been making all sorts of groaning sounds during the verbal exchange that had been going on between their parents. Ma had turned on a dime and then lunged at their father before saying for him to back off—luckily, for the old man's sake, he had done so with no lip given. Their exit of the ship had happened sometime after this event occurred; dad and their sister, Eshal, had followed them to the house—as far as he knew, it had only been the old man who had stayed with them after they had reached the old place's interior.

All of what occurred after they had reached the house's interior was a blur to him; he wasn't about to try to figure it out and he was for damn sure not going to ask anyone about what had happened either. For all he knew, his mother might just of gotten violent with their father. Either the idea of giving them a push forward had caused their mother to lunge, or lash out at, the old man or, quite possibly, he had caused a violent reaction to happen after doing an innocent brush-pass while trying to get around them. Their abnormally quiet half-sister could of also started something by doing one or both of them things too, or a Goblin who wasn't aware of their being brought home had come up and then started something; it was also quite possible that nothing had happened. They could of entered the mansion, and then been led to the room that they were currently all holed up in, unhindered. Really, the only thing that he was sure of was that, once he and his family had entered the room that they were currently still in, he and they had felt sleepy and then had gone to sleep—after going towards and then lying down on the room's one bed, that was.

"How long have you been awake?" Lhaklar asked after sitting up on the bed and then rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"An hour, maybe two hours." Bile replied. "Like with the last three nights, I've had broken sleep."

"Think the same goes with the rest of us." Lhaklar said.

And he looked as if he had gone through three nights of broken sleep; Lhaklar, his younger brother, who was a hundred years younger than he was, was normally one to stay clear of stressful situations—as of late, he had been finding himself as getting into more than his fair share of them.

LhaklarVile Closhu Surfeit, that was his name—or, at least until he or one of their brothers decided to get on his nerves by calling him something other than that. He was usually just called Lhaklar or Lhakie. The guy was pretty tall—his full reach, which had been acquired nearly a thousand years ago, was six foot one; he had an athletically built body that was, in accord to a human, abnormally colored. The complexion of his skin was mint green; he had large, oval-shaped eyes that were a pistachio color—but that had a "small" hint of a silver undertone to them. The ends of each of his fingers had suction cups on them; the toes that he had on his feet were very normal in appearance.

The white towel, that was wrapped around his brother's body, was not what he had been wearing three days ago—to his recollection, his brother had been wearing a brown, button down, long sleeve shirt, a pair of light brown corduroy pants, and brown shoes and socks. All of what his brother had been wearing had been confiscated—his jacket included in the mix of items that had been taken. Thanks to the towel, he was able to see the bulk of his brother's muscles; Lhaklar's arms and legs were good and firm with muscle while the muscle that was on his back was ample and decently rolling. He had a firmly toned six-pack on his abs; his chest was very nicely sculpted.

He had gotten all of the muscle that was on his body from natural means—by using the ghost towns that were around their now-former hometown of Green River, Wyoming as a sort of gym. The lying about logs had been picked up and then used as synthetic weights; invisible opponents had been punched at; logs had been stood on end and then punched at; the water sources had been swam in; and the usual rough housing that they had done during their time in being outside of the apartment had done the trick in beefing him up. The usual house maintenance had also helped some—the medium-height and tall trees that had been chopped down in their former backyard, the bushes and small-range trees that he had taken up from their former backyard, and the usual house repairs had all had a hand in helping him acquire what he had in muscle mass.

"Man, I feel as if I was hit by a damn truck!" Lhaklar exclaimed. "Did what happen on Earth really happen or was it a dream?"

"W—" Bile started to say. Hazaar was fast in both shooting up from the room's bed and in interrupting him.

"Dude, if it was a dream then I'm Elmer Fudd." Hazaar shot. "It won't no dream... it was more like a friggin' nightmare!"

"I was hoping that someone would say 'yeah, it was a dream. You're at home, breakfast is on the table, come get it.' " Lhaklar sighed.

"No such luck." Bile said.

Hazaar sniffed; to him, what his older brother had said was stupid. Of course all of what had happened on Earth happened and of course it had been a nightmare—but, instead of being of the dream-sort it had been real. If anyone had asked him, the nightmare of what all they had endured over the last three days was still going on.

As he got up from the bed he was instantly reminded of what had happened; he was sore all over—he put the whole blame for this on his father's head. If not for his father, and his damn Goblins, he wouldn't be as sore as he was and he wouldn't be far away from home, or Earth, for that matter. The old man had somehow gotten into the shield that was still up and over Green River, Wyoming then, somehow, he had found where he and his family lived; all of their material possessions had been taken then Lhaklar had been chased to the dump then he and his brothers had gotten into a fight with him and his Goblins then... then they had been taken to his ship, and then disciplined with a piece of leather that was used to keep one's pants up, and then they, and their mother, had been whisked away to Merry Ol' Moas.

The old fart had tried the old pal routine on him and his brothers to no avail during the trip from Earth to Moas; he and his brothers had simply ignored the routine and had, for the most part, turned a blind eye to the man's "nice" ways. As far as he was concerned, the man wasn't to be trusted as far as one could spit. Had he and his family been given the normal treatment all during the drive from Earth to Moas? No. Had he and his family been given the appropriate privacy that one should be automatically given during a long-distance trip? No. Had he, Lhaklar, and Bile gotten so much as an I'm-sorry from the old man after he beat them with his belt for their simple action of trying to defend themselves? No. Had any sort of attempt to make up for all that they had endured over the last three days been made by the one who had brought them to this planet? Hell no! The old man had just wiped his hands of any past deeds that he had done with them and then initiated the "clean slate" thing with them.

"Course, wasn't expecting for any of that to happen. With the old man being as old as he is he probably thinks that he's all above giving anyone an apology, or over making up for things that he's done on or to others." he thought as he went to the room's adjacent bathroom.

The old notion said that siblings weren't suppose to look fully identical to one another; they were suppose to have certain differences to them but they were also suppose to look something like that of the two forms that had created them. In accord to his full-brothers, he was both similar and not similar to them. With his being five foot, eleven inches tall, he was shorter than both of them; his eye and skin color was different than theirs too.

For as long as he knew, he had always had dark blue skin; the eyes that were in his face were of the wrap-around sort. They were a deep purple color that, he and his mother both agreed, contrasted rather nicely with his skin complexion. The four and a half inch long rattail, that stuck out from the nape of the back of his head, was also a deep purple color; at the moment, it was a knotted up mess—he had plans to change that now.

As he undid the braids that were in his hair, then removed the beads, and the one feather that was embedded in one of the braids, he looked at the reflection that was coming off the bathroom mirror. While his skin complexion, height, and eye and hair color was different than his brothers' his facial features were much the same as theirs. His upside down, teardrop-shaped head had two holes where a nose would normally be and an O-shaped mouth in it; the suction cups that were on the ends of his fingers were also identical to those that Lhaklar and Lazeer possessed. The reflection—his reflection—that was in the mirror had a few bruises on its face; he knew from memory that he had a good deal of bruises on him and he also knew where they had all come from. Thanks to the bruise that was on his right arm, right close to where the inner elbow was, which stretched up to nearly the bicep on that arm, he couldn't lift his arm but so far.

Unlike Lhaklar, who had an athletically built body on him, he had a lean body build; like his brother, he had good, strong muscle on him. Like Lhaklar, he had gotten his muscle the natural way—by spending his "free time" in the abandoned towns that were around Green River, Wyoming and by doing manual labor after being punished for something that he shouldn't of done. He had one hell of a strongly built chest, and he had good muscle on his arms and legs; though the six-pack on his abs was less pronounced than his brother's it was there. He was still working on his back—while it wasn't totally devoid of muscle it wasn't as amply muscled as Lhaklar's was. Like his older brother, he had just a towel wrapped around his lower half—not a shred of clothing had been given to him in the three days that he had been on the planet and in his father's mansion.

The old man, during one of his "short" visits with him and his family, had promised him and his brothers that they'd be allowed to use the gym that was in his house and he had also promised to not be but so firm on them when they decided to work-out in the gym or when they were outside. As far as he was concerned, he didn't care if the man had a gym in his house, or two gyms, or if his house was sitting on a hundred acres of land—he didn't trust him and he wouldn't be starting the trusting process until he saw some sort of improvement over what he had seen during the trip from Earth to Moas.

Lhaklar had spoken to the man a few times—he had been able to detect the tense look on his face, and that had been present in his voice, while their father had either turned a blind eye to it or hadn't noticed it. Lazeer had said nothing to the man; he, for the most part, had acted like the man wasn't in the room—he had gone by example in doing the same thing. Bile, though pleasant with the man, had also been rather tense around him—with each visitation that the man had done, he had been watching him like a hawk.

Their father had kept the visitations brief at just fifteen minutes; along with the constant questions, and promise-making, he had also tried to make them behave. He had either told them to behave themselves or he had said for them to plain watch themselves—if not for momma, they would of all snarled at the man and then said _or what_ in regards to that.

"I look like something that a pack of wolves hunted, then chewed on, then spat out after finding themselves as not favoring the taste of my flesh." Hazaar said as he left the bathroom. "Anyone have a comb or something?"

"Oh yeah, let me check my drawers for one." Bile said sarcastically. He slowly undid the knot that was on the towel that was around his waist; once the knot was undone, he pulled the towel away from his body. The waist of his brown boxer shorts was then pulled away from his body.

"You think any of us has anything on us, Hazaar?" Lhaklar asked. "Except for mom, we've been robbed of everything on our person. And that includes my blasted cigarette case!"

"Cigarettes, cigarette case, pocketknives, wallets, my bag of weed..." Bile leaned back in the chair that he was sitting on; he had tied the towel back around his body. "They made off with everything."

"Is that why you only looked down your shorts for a second?" Lazeer asked. He was the only one of them to of gotten up and then done a little walking around the room. "They even made off with your pecker?"

"Shuddup," Bile snorted.

For the last three months, he had been referred as either The Unknown Youth or Reezal Bakerly; as of the last three days, he had mostly been called by his real name—which was LazeerVile Zuluduz Surfeit. While he was happy in now being known as who he was he wasn't happy about being removed from the planet that he had virtually been raised on since he was four months of age.

Like his brothers, he didn't trust his father and, like his brothers, he feared the man—but there was a whole different reason for the two. The man who had aided in his creation had fought him, then had let his Goblins have at him after he had been felled by him, then he had had the guts to separate him from his brothers and then lock him up in his ship's dungeon. Like his brothers, he was sore all over; the medical table that was in his father's ship had managed to heal some of his injuries while, on others, it had either not been able to heal them fully or hadn't been able to heal them at all. His fear of the man had been cemented after he had learned that the old foggy had had the gumption to take a belt to his brothers.

Unlike his brothers, who had either been born at full gestation, or at near-gestation, he had been born prematurely at five and a half months gestation; he had spent three and half weeks in a pod before the doctors had handed him off to his parents—he had been given a two-day survival period after that occurred. His mother had let him nurse from her as many times as his little infant self could, which was the reason to why he was still alive today. He had been four months old at the time of his mother's father's mouth being opened; a threat had been given and then his mother had taken him and his brothers and then fled to Earth, where they had lived for sixteen hundred years.

"The docs would probably all look at me and go 'it's a miracle that he survived under the circumstances of his being removed at such a crucial time from Moas'." he thought as he went towards the bathroom that his brother had just vacated.

He used the toilet then he went to the mirror; once at the mirror, he gave himself a good studying. Here he was... the prematurely born baby who was now a strong, healthy, one thousand, six hundred year old. He was no longer the infant who could barely open or keep his eyes open, and he was no longer the infant who was so weak that he could barely move.

The one that was staring at him from the mirror was as strong, and as healthy, as could be. His reflection was very spot-on to what he really was—the skin was a periwinkle blue color and the eyes weren't only circular in shape but were also a very shiny silver color. He, like Lhaklar and Hazaar, had an upside down, teardrop-shaped head that had two holes where a nose would normally be and an O-shaped mouth in it; like his brothers, he had suction cups on the ends of each of his fingers. Unlike Lhaklar, who was bald, and Hazaar, who had a deep purple rattail, he had a two inch wide, horizontal row of bristly, brick-red hair on his head.

"You was quite bald when you was a baby," he remembered his mother telling him once. "Your hair didn't start coming in until after you was brought home; it became very noticeable at six months of age."

He was glad that he had hair—he thought that he'd look funny without having any hair on his head. Like his two full-brothers, he had no viewable ears on his head.

Like his brothers, he had just a white towel wrapped around his lower half; his muscles were all out and in the open thanks to this. His lean body, which looked a good deal like Hazaar's own, was teeming in good muscle. He had a good, hard chest and a nicely developed six-pack; his arms, and legs, were very nicely muscled while his back could use some work. While his back had some muscle on it it wasn't as finely muscled as Lhaklar's was—he had been hoping to fix this while on Earth; now that he was on Moas, he wasn't so sure if he'd get the chance to do so.

While some might be flattered at the mention of being unique from their siblings he wasn't but so flattered over what told him apart from Bile, Lhaklar, and Hazaar. He had inherited a mild-severe form of photo sensitivity in his left eye from his father, who, he had been told, had a severe case of the sensitivity in both of his eyes. This sensitivity that he had bothered him greatly—he couldn't be normal like everyone else could thanks to it. The skin around his left eye was a dark blue color; he had suffered the effects of his photo sensitivity for a while before his mother had helped him by getting him some drops to reverse the sensitivity's effects.

He hoped that the long tenure that he had gone through in experiencing the pain that the sun had caused him to go through after he had been caught out in the open didn't cause his eye issues to get worse.

"What time is it?" Lazeer asked after exiting the bathroom.

"Nearly eight in the morning." Bile replied. "Why?"

"Very wise of you to ask that question when you damn well know what the answer is." Hazaar snapped. "It's been more than ten hours since our last meal was "delivered" to us."

"Foooooood, must haaaave!" Lazeer moaned. He rubbed his stomach once before going over to where Bile was; once at his oldest brother's side, he grabbed his arm then held it up. "This'll do."

"Man you sink your teeth into me and you'll have a problem." Bile pulled his arm out from Lazeer's grip.

After taking his arm from his brother's grasp, he went towards the just vacated bathroom to do nothing in or out of the ordinary. He neither used the toilet, or swished his mouth out with water, or threw water on his face—he just went into the bedroom then looked at his mirror-made reflection.

None of his brothers were short by any means; Lhaklar was the next tallest to him while Hazaar was the final one in the line. Lazeer, who was six feet tall, was between Lhaklar and Hazaar on the "height" chart. In regards to the line, he was stationed at its front—he was six foot, three inches; his body matched that height well. As much as it pained him to think it, he resembled more his father than his mother; he didn't look a single bit like his brothers at all.

The body that he possessed was evenly divided in color; his left side was yellow while his right side was green. The eyes that looked out from his face were a glowing yellow-green color; the small pupils that were in their centers were black. His ears were elongated; not only did they go half the length of his shoulders but they were a dark green color. The light green, Tiger-like stripes that were on them contrasted vibrantly against the background color. The skeletal right shoulder; the right arm, that was skeletal from the elbow on down to his wrist; and his skeletal knees had all come from his father. The fingernails, that were coming out from the ends of his fingers, were both long, sharp, and were a dark yellow color; the toenails that came out from the ends of his toes were the same color as his fingernails but they were kept short.

After taking in his reflection, then the matter that came out from the ends of his fingers and toes, he looked down at the body that he possessed. He had worked hard to get his body to be the way it was; he was damn proud of how he looked. His chest was thickly muscled; the six-pack that was on his abs was very finely toned and powerful looking; and his arms were very big and very finely muscled. His lower half was a little less extreme in muscle—this meant nothing because he was strong down there too. The legs that he possessed had a decent amount of muscle on them.

Along with being strong, he was also very well in-tune with his speed and stamina—he was an extremely fast individual; an example of this had been given when he had been a student at Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic. His father's mile-run record had been blasted to smithereens by him; it had once been set at 2:06:54... it stood as 1:48:12 now. He had also broken the mile and a quarter record, which had been placed by his grandfather, KurukVile Shonsinu Surfeit—it now stood at 2:00:45—, and the mile and a half record, which had been set by his uncle, TriskullVile Vuupipii Surfeit—that baby still stood at 2:04:01. He had also broken the record that had been placed over a hundred thousand years ago by another member of his family—a man named RosolVile Yilsivoor Surfeit. His record for two whole miles still stood at 2:36:34.

Besides running track, he had also done wrestling—he had gotten some awards, trophies, and plaques from that. His mother had done as any other good parent should in attending each of his track and wrestling meets; even though her hair had been dyed a different color he had still known who she was and he had still felt a great amount of love for her. His ma had wasted not a second in rushing down to see him after he either crossed the finish line or was declared the winner of one of his wrestling meets; no one had put two-and-two together on who she was or, for the matter, who he was.

When he opened his mouth, to give his reflection a little silliness, he noted the fangs that were on his top and bottom jaws; after giving his reflection The Tongue, and then flipping it off with his middle finger, he left the bathroom.

"So, who's going to be the unlucky victim to be eaten by us poor, hungry boys?" Lazeer was asking when he left the bathroom. "It can't be Lhaklar—he's too thin; there's not enough meat on his bones. It can't be Hazaar either—although he has a little more meat on his bones he doesn't have much more that Lhaklar. And it can't be me—I'm too damn sexy to be eaten."

"Why don't I cook and eat all three of you?" Bile said. He licked his lips evilly. "Between the three of you, there's plenty of meat to go around."

"Then what will _we_ eat?" Hazaar asked. "Ghosts can't eat—I'll probably haunt you for the rest of your life but I can't eat or drink anything after I've been cooked and then eaten."

"You'll find yourself to be a very lonely man if you cook and eat us." Lhaklar, who was sustaining a chuckle, said. "You'll be walking around all alone—there won't be any of us around to bug you apey."

"Just you and your old, hideously ugly mug." Lazeer said.

"How will I be lonely when I have you three haunting me?" Bile asked.

"Don't look at me, sweetheart." their mother said when Lhaklar looked at her. "You boys have to make the decision on who gets eaten and who doesn't."

"Boooooooo!" Lazeer exclaimed before laughing.

The woman, who was all huddled up in one of the room's corners, was the one who had gone through so much both before and after her first pregnancy; not only had his ma been chased around, and then beaten countless times by her pursuers, but she had also been raped time and again by his father. Unlike his brothers, who had been accepted right after the pregnancy had been noted, he hadn't been accepted right away. Ma had wanted nothing to do with him; she had spoken bad of him, and had said that she wasn't going to take care of him, before escaping her father's palace on Gamma Vile and then returning to Earth, where she had spent some weeks fending for both herself and his unborn self. From what she had told him, it was the fending for the both of them in the cruel deserts of Egypt, and then the event of her holding him for the first time, that had done the trick in her accepting him as her child.

This woman was the one that they regarded with such respect and love... really, their love for her had no definition to it—they loved her so much that it was sometimes scary.

Along with giving her respect and love, they were also quite protective of her; during each of the visitations that occurred on the ship, they had come close to attacking their father after he had dared to place a hand to her abdomen—while he had come close to swinging a fist at the man for his hand placing Lhaklar had actually jumped at the man and then brought him down to his knees. Hazaar and Lazeer had come close to giving the man a big shove after he went to straighten their mother after placing his hand on her abdomen.

The name of the woman who was in the corner was Angel Irene—to their recollection, the Vile-Surfeit name that was being pinned to her had never been used by her. The "surname" that everyone seemed to like calling their mother by had come from their mother's two marriages—their mother had been taken as a sort of wife by Master Vile, who's surname was Vile, and then she had been given as a Universal Wife to TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit, who's surname was, naturally, Surfeit.

She had passed something down to all of them. A color variant of her emerald-green eyes, which had a single, golden-yellow ring around a single black pupil, had been passed down to both he and Lhaklar—his green half, and his yellow-green eyes, had come from this part of hers. Even though Lhaklar's mint green skin and pistachio colored eyes had come from her their father had also had a hand in making him have the colors that he had to him. Her hair, which was a very vibrant, fiery red color, had also been passed down to them—along with carrying a gene for her hair color her hair color had also mingled in with their father's skin complexion to make Hazaar have deep purple eyes and hair. Lazeer's brick-red hair had also come from her—his hair was a color variant of her own.

Her skin was honey colored; she had a petite body, that had some muscle on it; she stood five foot, seven inches tall; and she had a heart-shaped face.

Their mother was wearing a pair of black slacks; the short sleeve, low-cut blouse that she was wearing over her top half was purple and made of a satin-y material—Hazaar had found this one day when he had been scrounging for things at the Green River, Wyoming dump. After cleaning it well, he had given it to her. The brown leather boots that were on her feet had come from Lazeer two Christmases ago. She wore no makeup; with the exception of the ring that she was wearing on her left hand, she had no jewelry on herself.

"Ma, are you okay?" Bile asked. He, ever since early childhood, always called his mother ma or mama. "Y'look a bit squished up over there."

"Only doing so to stop the stomach gurgles," his mother replied. "I'm just as hungry as you four are... and I'm a bit cold."

"Son pile up time!" Lazeer exclaimed. He started walking towards his mother. "Ma's cold, we m—"

"You're much too sweet, Lazie." Angel said to her fourthborn son. "I'll be fine, you four stretch them cramped muscles. It shouldn't be long before breakfast is brought up to us."

"You're still going to cook for us aren't you, momma?" Hazaar asked.

"Of course honey." Angel said. "Wouldn't stop cooking for my babies for the world."

"That's a relief!" Bile breathed. "Had me worried there—no food cooked by my mama? I needs my mama's good cookin' in me."

"Hazaar, don't ask." Angel said when she saw the question form on her thirdborn son's lips about her natural milk. "I haven't had anything to eat for several hours now—you, as well as your brothers, know that I'm dry and will be until I eat something."

"And then it'll take a few hours before we can get some of our favorite beverage." Lhaklar said, he then sighed. "You don't think—"

"Lhakie, as long as I'm still producing milk you four will continue to get it." Angel said. "No one is going to stop that—you four are still growing, and my milk helps you four gain the antibodies and proteins that you need to keep healthy and strong."

"I love you, mama." Bile said.

"I love you too, Biley."

"I love ya, momma." Hazaar said. He walked over then gave his mother a hug.

"Mmmm, goodness me is it me or do your hugs get warmer with each giving?" Angel said after her son hugged her. She hugged Hazaar back. "I love you too, Hazie."

"Me too! Meeeeee toooooo! I loves me mom!" Lazeer exclaimed.

"Silly thing—I love you too." Angel chuckled lightly. She then looked over at Lhaklar. "And I love you as well, Lhakie-Boo."

"Lhakie-Boo!" Lhaklar exclaimed. The corners of his O-shaped mouth curved up gently. "Mommy! You are my mommy!"

"I am, yes. Have always and will always be." Angel said.


	3. Chapter 3

Like with the previous two mornings, the first thing that had greeted her had been the rays that had shone down from the three spheres that her home-planet orbited; she had accidentally overslept but one of her father's female staff had made sure to open the drapes in her room to let the rays come in—this action had been the cause of her waking up.

It felt great to be back home again and it felt great to have each and every one of her family back to being where they should be; the mansion that she had been born and raised in no longer had that empty feeling in it. It felt full again, which was an oh so great feeling to her and, she presumed, her father.

She had gotten out of bed, then had taken a quick shower, then had gotten dressed, then had noticed the time—with it going on 9:00, she was very near to missing out on breakfast and on saying hello and good morning to her father. After running the brush and comb that were on her vanity through her hair, then checking to see if she was okay, facial-wise, she left her room then went straight down to the second and then first level of the house; while on the way to the kitchen, she wondered if she and her father would have five extra family members joining them for that morning's meal.

"Probably won't—they're probably still too nervous to join me and daddy in becoming a full family." she thought after exiting the stairwell that ran around the foyer's left side.

While the events of their being led from the ship had been hairy they had been extremely good after entering the mansion; her father had walked around them gently then had led them to one of the stairways that ran up to the second level. She had followed them; after reaching the second level, she had gone on to the third level, where her bedroom was. With it being the hour that it was, she had gone straight to bed and then gone to sleep—her mother and brothers, she had been told a few hours later, had conked out as soon as they had been put in the room that they were currently still taking up on the house's second level.

She had seen nothing of her brothers, or of her mam, for three days now; daddy, who had been taking their meals up to them these past few days, had seen plenty of them, and had spoken a good deal of them after leaving them alone, but she had seen not a hair of them. Daddy said that he was going to give them another day to two days before making the decision on moving them up to the chambers that they were to sleep in—her brothers, that was; she was sure that her mam would be taking up her daddy's room again.

She was looking forward to seeing them moving about the house and getting to know them all again; they were all very different now... had all grown into strong, healthy, mid-teenagers that acted and reacted differently to what they had when they had been six hundred, five hundred, a hundred, and four months of age. Regardless of how changed they were they weren't to find anything overly different in the mansion—much of it was the same; their old baby and kiddie chambers were still intact, the stables and horse pastures were the same, the sheep and goat pens were the same, and so was the general make and model of the place's interior.

On the day that she had gone from being nine hundred and ninety-nine to one thousand, she had been moved from being on the house's second level to the third; the baby and kid chambers would all be located on the house's second level while the big kids' rooms would all be located on the above levels. If any of her father's adult kids decided to remain under his roof, they'd be moved to either the fifth, sixth, or seventh levels. Daddy and mammy's chamber was on the second level, as was her father's office. She was quite sure that her brothers' chambers were all on the same level of the house as hers was.

"This is one of the new things that's been put in the house," she thought after stopping to take in the clock that was on the first level's main hallway.

It was new, yes, but, in regards to its age, it was a right old piece; the cherry red wood was nicely polished, but it still carried that ancient look to it, and the glass that housed the clock was very clean. The pane of glass, that was before the two weights, and the pendulum, was also very clean. The bronze and copper trim decor that was on the wood was also very well polished. Her daddy was one for bats and this one clock had had a good fancy in him—it had bat designs and carvings on it. After looking at this clock, then doing another time acknowledging, she went on her way to the kitchen.

"Morning daddy," Eshal said after entering the smaller of the house's two kitchens. Her father was in the room; he was working the stove.

"Morning Eshal, sleep well?"

"Yes, you?"

"For a few hours—been up for the last five hours... the final-final touches to your brothers' chambers were done last night." her father replied.

He had said the exact same thing yesterday and the day before yesterday; she was hoping that this would be the final time that he'd say that the final-final changes to her brothers' rooms had been done—her daddy, while a grown man, and while a man who knew well how to hold himself after not getting in a decent night's sleep, needed his rest.

Her daddy was revered in much the same way that other daddy's were—he was her hero. She looked up to him for everything and she pretty much showered him with untold amounts of love and respect daily. Of the many things that she marveled about with him it was mostly his strength that she took great notice and pride of—not once had he buckled down under the pressure, or under the heartbreak of losing most of their family, and not once had he called the search for her mam and brothers off. Really, to her, if it hadn't been for her father's drive to find their missing family her mam and brothers wouldn't be known to be alive or wouldn't be in the mansion.

Like any other daughter, she didn't need him to turn around so she could take in his general appearance; with her seeing him on a day-in to day-out basis, and with his raising her for two thousand, five hundred, and one years, she knew him like the back of her hand. Her Hero had light blue skin; the eyes that looked out from his face were large, oval in shape, and were a very shiny silver color. The face and head structure that he had was very Zetakin-like—he had an upside down, teardrop-shaped head that had two holes were a nose would normally be and an O-shaped mouth in it. No hair, or ears, were present on his head.

The clear, elastic band, that was around the back of his head, was keeping his goggled glasses on tight; her father had inherited the severe form of P.S.E, or Photo Sensitive Eye, from his mother—he couldn't go outside without having his glasses on or else, he'd shriek and then experience pain and then go blind.

When her father stretched his arm out, to grab one of the plates, that were on the nearby counter-top, she saw the suction cups that he had on the ends of each of his fingers; her Hero was a tall man... not only did he stand six foot one but he also had a very firm, strong body that was full of hard muscle.

Her daddy was wearing a burgundy tuxedo and shoes; the jacket that went with the tuxedo had a tail on it that went down to the floor. She didn't need to be told that he was also wearing a burgundy neck-tie, or a burgundy vest that had dark burgundy ties on it, or a white, button down, long sleeve shirt—whenever he wore a burgundy tuxedo, he always wore them items or something very similar to them items. The shirts that he wore always had belled cuffed on the ends of their sleeves—when her father stretched his arm out for the plate, she had been able to see the lace-like, belled cuffs that were on the ends of his worn shirt.

Her father's name was TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit; he was the son of the fearsome DuruVile Bolushi Surfeit and the very nice and understanding Ashaklar Zoopray. He was a conqueror, like his father, but he was very unlike his father in a lot of ways. An example of how much of a better man he was in regards to his own father lie in how he fathered his children—he was a good daddy... one who never disciplined unless he had to and one who was patient and understanding. Granddaddy Duru was the exact opposite of him—she knew that he liked to teach his children respect through harsh disciplinary means... and she also knew that he beat his children as a way to get them to know who was both the dominant one and the one in charge.

"So, everything's all ready for them?" Eshal asked.

"As far as I can tell, yes." TazirVile replied. After a few second of silence fell between them, he grabbed what he had just made then turned and went towards the kitchen's stationed island. "Today'll be like the last two, Eshie. Just you and me; let your mother and brothers calm down a bit more before formal introductions and then "leash-releasing" occur."

"Okay," Eshal said, she had already planned on leaving her just-returned family be for a while. "When will you be showing them their rooms?"

"Hopefully today," TazirVile replied as he placed a plate in front of his daughter. With that done, he turned, then went back to the stove, then started making himself a plate. "If not today then tomorrow."

"Mam going up with them?"

"Of course—they're rather close to your mother. I don't think they'll be leaving her side for a while." TazirVile replied. "Don't you be but so buggy on your mother now. Let her have a chance to settle down too."

"Okay, maybe if she settles down they will too?"

"If that doesn't happen then it'll take a few days to a week or two before they all calm down." TazirVile said.

Her father, from what she had been told, had gone through two interior designers before settling on the one who had done most, if not all, of the rooms that were in the house; the general building had been constructed by a man by the name of Tuuyan Fuugwin while most, if not all, of the interior had been done by a team organized by a woman named Ksacna Volu. Mrs. Volu and Co., working by the design that her father had come up with, had done an exceptional job in making the whole house look good and stable.

The smaller kitchen was really where she and her father had taken their meals in for the last sixteen hundred years; with her mam and brothers being missing, there had been no point in just their plain two-some taking up the large dining room, which could seat up to eighty people at a time. The room that she and her father were in was very well lit up; the beam that was in the ceiling not only went all the way around the room but it was also mount-free. The light shone on everything that was in the room thanks to there being no sides to keep the light's rays suppressed. The ceiling was an eggshell blue color and so was the floor; the floor that was in the room had a built-in heating system in it that kept the feet of anyone who wandered in with no shoes or socks on warm. The walls had blue and sea-green tile on them.

The island, that was placed in the room's center, was what she and her father had taken to eat on this morning and on the mornings that had happened over the last sixteen hundred years; it went around in an elbow, up to six people could eat at it at a time. The surface of the kitchen island was black marble while the cabinets that made up the piece were cherry wood. Five, tall, dark stools were placed at the island—she and her father, who was now taking his place at the "table", were sitting on two of them.

The counter-tops that were in front of her had a few containers on them—long toothpicks were in one while cooking utensils, like spatulas and ladles, were in two others. The counter-top that was two down from the one that the containers were on had a cutting board and a knife block, that contained all sorts of knives in it, on it; the refrigerator, which had a built-in ice-maker on it, and which was a very shiny silver-chrome color, was in-between them two counter-tops. The interior of the refrigerator was spacious; it contained much of what she and her father consumed either on a meal or snack-time basis. A red wood china cabinet was near to where the room's northern corner was; it had all sorts of plates, bowls, trays, and other eating vessels on it. The spice rack that was on the cabinet's lowest shelf had all of the spices that either her father or one of the staff used when they were cooking. The open space that was below the main part of the china cabinet contained four holders that candy and cereal were in.

Behind her sat two stoves; one was for normal cooking while the other had burners on it that were suited for venison meat. The counter-tops that stretched to the left and right of the stoves had the room's sink, a microwave, a blender, a coffee pot, a can opener, and a toaster on them. Near to where the room's southern corner was sat a stacked oven—this was a relatively new piece that had only been added to the room after her mother had come into her and her father's lives; mam had been one for baking sweets and other dessert-like items and daddy had made an effort in purchasing a cooking appliance that she could use without having to worry about having to wait between cooking the things that she had made.

"That appliance hasn't been used in a while—wonder if mam still likes baking sweets and desserts and wonder if she'll go back to using it again." she wondered as she started in on her breakfast, and as she struggled to not look at the two pantries that were between the china cabinet and stacked oven.

The plates that she and her father ate their breakfast off of had two honey-flavored pancakes, that had a touch of vanilla inside them, on them; four slices of maple syrup bacon and three pieces of link sausage had been made and then placed beside the pancakes after the pancakes had been made and then placed on the plates. The protein shake that she had for her morning beverage was something that her father made for her every morning; to her, it was nothing more than a chocolate drink that had whipped cream in the center. Her father's beverage was very much like her own.

Her father finished his breakfast before she did; after standing up, then collecting his silverware and plate, he went towards the sink. He washed the dishes that he had used then he went to the counter that was two down from the sink; he was fast in grabbing a large tray, that several dishes, platters, plates and silverware, and five glasses were on, then he turned towards her.

"Keep it down, Eshal." TazirVile said after taking up the tray. "You know the score—no loud noises for a few days."

"Yes daddy." Eshal said.

As he left the smaller of the house's two kitchens, then went down the hallway, that, except for the dark green rug, that had more than enough white and light blue "floral" designs on it, looked very similar to that of what was located in the employees' quarters, he couldn't help but admit that the mansion did have that old feeling back to it. He had pretty much felt that old, fully occupied feeling creep back into the place right after he and his family had stepped foot in the place; like with Eshal, it felt great to have the old place feeling this full again and it felt great to know that the ones that they had been missing for this past sixteen hundred years were back to being where they were.

He had slept for three, maybe four hours before finding himself being wide awake; the excitement from having the full of his family back to being under his roof again, coupled by the fact of his having his wife in the same building, had caused him to not be able to sleep for long. Like with the previous two mornings, he had gotten up at four; he had showered, had taken care of the basic necessities that one did when they were in the bathroom, then had gotten dressed. He had gone straight up to the third level to check into the rooms that his sons were to inhabit either sometime today or sometime this week.

Since Hazaar was so nervous around him he was being extra careful when he entered the room that he and his mother and brothers were in and in approaching him; with this son of his looking to have an interests in trains he had made a point in having something train-related rigged up in his chamber. A set of shelves, that were level with each other, had been placed all around the room; a train track had been placed on these shelves and then an electronic train had been placed on them. A remote, that ran on both batteries and that could be charged up via a wall outlet, was what controlled the train—a set of buttons on this remote would make it possible for his son to have real-like train noises be heard while he was using the train.

While his staff had the credit to how most of the rooms had been set up he had personally seen to putting the train track and train in Hazaar's room and he had also seen to rearranging some of the things that had been put in Bile's, Lhaklar's, and Lazeer's rooms. During the rearranging, he had taken notice of some of the clothing that Bile and Lazeer owned—most, if not all, of Lazeer's pants were ripped at the knees and most, if not all, of Bile's shirts had two to three tears in their chest and stomach regions; he had thought long and hard on discarding them clothing items, and then getting these two sons of his a new set of clothes to replace them, before deciding to leave the clothes be.

For all he knew, Bile and Lazeer might well of made the tears to their clothing themselves—torn or ripped clothing might be their style right now; he had no right in saying what style they were to wear and he had no right in saying what they were or were not to wear.

Everything, from the models to most of the posters to the collectible items, had been set-up in their rooms; the only things that weren't in the rooms were the cigarettes, the bags of weed, the bottles that were lacking their tags, and any posters that had explicit material on them.

"I'll let my wife take care of the disposal of them items." he thought as he entered the foyer of his home.

The hallway that came off his foyer branched off in either direction; the one that he was on, which ran straight to his residence's front door, was short but relatively comfortable to the eye. The foyer wasn't much changed—the gold chandelier, that hung down from the room's light copper-colored ceiling, was the same and so were the twin staircases that wrapped around the room. The two, long candelabras, that had been standing beside the staircases' right hand volutes, were gone but the normal-sized candelabras were still on the volutes. The floor underfoot was wooden; it had a glowing rust-red finish to it.

The many bat portraits and family-orientated photographs that had been on the walls at the time of his wife's and sons' disappearance were all still up; all of the photographs that were on the walls were of him, his wife, and their children—the ages of his young in each photograph varied. He, like any other proud father would do, had made and then placed a new photograph to the walls of his foyer after each new arrival to his family was born

The heavy wooden door that was his residence's entrance had photographs on either side of it. A photograph of Eshal from when she was a newborn was the first photograph that he looked at; another of her, from when she had been a young toddler, was placed below that. The photograph that was below the one of a then-toddler Eshal was of him and Angel; the two of them were holding a few-week old Lhaklar between them. A small photograph of a then-toddler Lhaklar, who was playing beside a mud puddle, was below that one. On the door's other side there was a photograph of him and Angel holding a newborn Hazaar; a photograph of him, Angel, Eshal, Bile, and a very young infant Lhaklar was below that and, beside that, hung a photograph of him, Angel, Eshal, Bile, Lhaklar, and a very young infant Hazaar. The final photograph that he looked at had his youngest son in it; he and Angel, despite looking very upset over the premature birth of their son, were looking down at their youngest child fondly.

So many memories; he was really surprised, and really glad, that Lazeer was still alive. His youngest son, despite being a preemie, was a very healthy youngster.

After looking his foyer over, and taking in the many photographs, and allowing the many memories that were contained in them to flow through him, he turned then went up one of the room's staircases. Once on the balcony, he went down the hallway a ways; when he stopped, he was before the door to the chamber that his wife and sons had been put in. He knocked twice, then he waited for the come-in signal to be given, then, after being told that he could come in, he opened the door and went in.

"Morning," TazirVile said after entering the room and then closing the door behind him.

"Good morning," Angel said. She turned and then looked at her sons. "Boys, what do you say?"

"Morning." the four boys said in unison.

"Everyone alright this morning?" TazirVile asked while placing the tray, with its assortment of plates and dishes and silverware and glasses on the room's solid black marble bench.

"Peachy," Hazaar said.

And, with that small verbal exchange between he and his just-returned family, he knew that it was going to take a few more days before everyone was calm, cool, and settled to living back under his roof.

After opening the door, and then walking into the room, he had been hit by a blast of tense air; it had been so thick... he might of been able to cut through maybe half of it with a knife. His sword might well of been able to cut through it all the way but, with the air being as thick as it was, it might of also had issues in doing so.

The room that he had put them in was one that Angel knew of; after being found to be wandering both the interior and exterior of his home, and then after being cornered by Gloar, his neighbor and good friend, and then being captured, he had placed her in this room for "safe-keeping". Bile had just been born at the time that his wife, who hadn't been his wife at this event's occurrence, had been placed in the room but he hadn't been with her at the time; it had taken him a week to two weeks before finally having mother and newborn son be returned to one another—and, at the time that this had happened, she had escaped him with the child that he had just returned to her. The idea of putting her in this room was really very simple—if she was in a room that she knew of then, maybe, she'd calm down sooner and, maybe, the boys would follow in her example in also calming down.

The bed that was in the room had cost him a pretty penny—the cost hadn't been given a single bit of concern by him; he had spared nothing when it came to decorating the rooms that were in his mansion. The room's bed was one of them full-foam types; the sides were twelve inches high and the mattress was very soft and comfortable. It had a dark purple velvet blanket, and black sheets, on it; the pillows—three normal, two throw, and a single small one—were all encased in purple cases that had a gold T and S—his initials—stitched on them. To the left of the bed sat a solid black bedside table that had a simple, purple and blue crystal lamp on it. Placed against the wall that was to the left of the door was a long, black dresser that had a mirror attached to it; beside it, in the corner, was a deep red chair that had an ottoman in front of it. To the door's other side, in the opposite corner to the chair, was a black armoire; a chair, that had a simple, black cushion, that had red sparkly decor on it, was beside the armoire. The room's one bench was placed about a foot from the bed's end.

With the exception of the large, 50" tv, everything else that was in the room was old; his wife had been the one to point out the fact that he had forgotten about putting a tv in the room—along with giving her a "little" peck on the cheek, he had been fast in correcting this mistake of his.

The room's carpet was a dark red color; it was shag and was relatively soft to the touch. The walls, and the ceiling, were a light red color; a large dome light, that was currently casting a gold light down into the room, was in the room's ceiling's center.

After placing the food down he backed away; he went to the ottoman then sat down. His wife was the first to stand up; she went to the tray, then she lifted the many tops that were on the dishes, then she started making herself a plate. He was fast in sighing inside when the boys followed in her example.

"It'll be the two younger ones who'll come around last," he silently observed. His two, younger sons had kept their eyes on him all while making themselves a plate. They were now standing on the room's other side—far away from him. They were eating what they had placed on their plates. "Lhaklar's nervous but he'll come around, so will Bile. They both know this place."

"Don't stare,"

TazirVile jumped, then looked to the side—he was a bit surprised over finding that his wife was standing beside him. Having her so close to him gave him a sense of comfort; he couldn't help himself from smiling at her or from reaching his hand up to touch her.

Bile was fast in issuing a mild throat clearing; he neither said anything vocally or moved forward to separate him from his mother. Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer, while looking to be busy in eating their meals, were training their eyes on him and their mother. He paid no mind to them; he just trailed his hand down his wife's arm.

Was the old love that had been expressed between them still there? How about the connection? Was the same feeling, and the same compassion, that they had felt for one another sixteen hundred years ago still there or had it become extinguished? He really couldn't tell; he felt the same old love for the fiery red-haired woman who had unique, emerald-green eyes but he wasn't sure if she still felt it. Angel had accepted him; she had respected him and she had loved him... she had treated him wonderfully and he had done the same with her.

After touching her, then noticing that she was unresponsive to him, he felt a sort of sadness fall over him; what if his wife had decided to stop loving him? What if all of the years that she had spent away from him extinguished what had been felt between them? He loved the woman and he loved their children—Bile included in the mix. Sure, he would love to have more children with her but... but if the old love that had been felt and expressed between them was gone then how could that happen? He wasn't about to force her into being with him, that was for damn sure. He knew better than to do that; he remembered all too well that she had reacted rather nastily when her own father had tried to force her into loving him. TazirVile lowered his hand then looked forward; he did as his wife had said in not staring at the boys—he glanced at the boys from time to time for a few minutes before getting to his feet and then leaving the room.

"Did you see the look on his face!" Hazaar said after his father left the room. "He was like, 'oh, she's beside me, I gotta touch her... oh, she's cold.' "

"I saw it—he tried pulling one of them lovey-dovey moves on ma." Bile said. "It didn't work now did it? She was like stone with him."

"Man, she wasn't like stone." Lazeer commented. "She was more like steel."

"Boys, that's enough." Angel said to her sons. "I wasn't being hard or mean with him. I was just standing next to him."

"You didn't respond when he touched you." Bile said.

"You wanted to see our mother go—" Lhaklar turned around; he wrapped his arms around himself then started making kissing noises. Lazeer started laughing right after he did so. "—on our father in front of us?"

"My eyes!" Lazeer exclaimed. "Mama, he blinded me by making out with himself!"

"Eat your breakfast you crazy kids." Angel said. Even though she was suppressing the laughs that wanted to come out she was happy to see that a sense of normalcy had returned to her sons.

The gold tray that had been brought up had had three dishes and two platters on it. There had been a couple of plates, some silverware, and five glasses, that had some sort of chocolate-tasting drink in them, on the tray too. A stack of honey-flavored pancakes, that had a vanilla filling in them, had been on one of the platters while, on the other, there had been maple syrup bacon slices and pieces of link sausage. The center-lying bowl had had some fruit in it; the other bowls had consisted of syrup or whipped cream.

Lhaklar and Hazaar had grabbed two of the pancakes, and then three of the bacon slices and link sausage pieces up while Bile had simply grabbed a single pancake and then four slices of bacon; Lazeer had been the only one of them to "feast" on what had been brought up. Two and a half pancakes, and then five slices of bacon, had been consumed before he had gone to retrieve two pieces of link sausage. Their mother had grabbed a single pancake, and then a small handful of the fruit bowl's fruit, before leaving the rest to them.

While the meal was good, it was lacking something—the eggs, whether scrambled or fried, were a very much missed side to their morning meals; as of the last three mornings, they hadn't been given any eggs to go with their meals. Hazaar was struggling to not throw a fuss over not having his morning eggs.

When their father returned he saw that everything had been eaten; about half of the meal's beverages had been consumed at the time that he opened the door and then re-entered the room.

"Goodness, I was gone what..." TazirVile said after seeing the de-nuded dishes and platters that were on the tray. "eight... nine... ten minutes and—"

"Boys eat a lot," Angel said. She smiled at her husband then, after noticing that he had some clothes on his person, she turned to address her sons. "Boys, think it's time for you to get dressed."

That smile of hers threw his whole train of thought, and his new plans, completely into the fire. The smile that she had just expressed with him had been used quite a lot over the years before she had disappeared with the boys; along with being used whenever she was disclosing a certain bit of trust in him she had also used her sweet, trusting smile whenever she was flirting with him. He had never not returned her given smiles—he returned the smile that she had just flashed at him.

During the trek to the third level, to get his sons something to wear, he had thought about how his wife had reacted to his action in touching her arm—she had done nothing more than stand there... she had said nothing nor had made any motions to either return his token of affection or move away from it. All she had done was stand and look at the boys while they ate their meals; all that she had taken from the tray had simply been "growing cold" on the plate that she had been holding. While taking some clothes from his sons' dressers, he had come up with the idea that she had been doing an insurance thing by taking up a position beside him—she had stood by him to insure that he'd not do anything rash with her children.

He had gone to seven schools—to Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic, then to the University of Telepathy, then to Shlane's Academy, then to the School of Gray, then to the School of Hard Knots, then to the University of Power, and then, finally, to the Academy of Evil... he was a rather intelligent individual and he had used this intelligence of his to his advantage in thinking up something that might well explain why his wife hadn't reacted to his expression of affection.

Although it was relatively well known that both men and women were rather protective of their young it was also well known that women were more prone to being aggressive and violent when it came to the relative safety of the ones that they had birthed. A woman became a most distrustful creature when her young were with her; she kept each and every person that was in her area under her eye and she didn't stick around for long after an unknown male came over to engage in either conversation or in some other activity with her. Female animals were the same way; he had bred horses for thousands of years and he had found that each of his mares, who had given birth at either sometime in the night or during the early morning hours, were very distrustful of the ones who walked down the aisle that their stall was on and that they were especially wary of the sounds that occurred around them. He and his staff had to take special care in being careful around the mares that had newborn foals by their sides; while each foal was imprinted on after being born it was usually done after they reached a few days to a week old—at this period, a mare was less prone to kicking or taking the skin from one's back or limb after he, or she, entered her stall. Cats, dogs, rodents, and even sapient, intelligent beings acted in the exact same way after having their offspring—with this being known, he had placed a figuring of his wife, who had four teenage boys to look after, thinking of him as one who needed to be kept a wary eye on.

Before entering Hazaar's bedroom chamber he had decided to simply take the clothes that he had retrieved for the boys to the boys and then vacate the room for thirty minutes to an hour before returning to spend a short stretch of time with them. He'd spend short stretches of time with his newly returned family then he'd spend anywhere between an hour to two hours away from them before going to spend the next fifteen to twenty minutes with them after that fist visitation was done. The idea of his spending anywhere between a few days to a few weeks of being all by his lonesome until Angel got over her wariness of him had also been thought up.

Before the new, and now discarded, plan had been thought up, he had already initiated the order for everyone in his mansion to walk around, and be, as quiet as can be; this order, in his new, and now discarded, plan had remained the same.

That smile of hers, which had given him a renewed strength of love, hope, and warmth, had made that plan evaporate completely. He was glad to see the smile and he was equally glad to of been given the opportunity to return it.

TazirVile stood in place for a few seconds before turning and then going towards Lhaklar; his firstborn son looked him up and down before reaching forward for the bundle of clothes that he was holding out to him. His son went towards the bathroom after he took his clothes from him. With his oldest born son now having some appropriate attire to wear, and now with him getting dressed in that attire, he turned his attention to Bile. His adopted son imitated what his younger brother had done then he simply waited his turn to use the bathroom. Instead of giving Hazaar and Lazeer their clothes he just placed their clothes on the room's bed—this was done as a way to not cause any fights or further upsetting to occur between them and him.

After being relinquished of the clothing that he had collected for the boys, he went towards the now-empty tray. He arranged everything on the tray all nice and neat, then he collected the tops to the dishes, then he picked the tray up and then left the room.

"I feel much better!" Lhaklar said a few minutes later. He felt like his old self again—the pair of light gray and green, plaid pants; the faint gray, button down, long sleeve shirt; the pair of medium gray socks and the pair of brown shoes had made him feel like he was no longer naked. When he exited the bathroom, he found that the room had just his mother and brothers in it.

Bile charged past Hazaar; he was fast in getting dressed and he was fast in exiting the bathroom.

"Out of my way," Hazaar, who had been grumbling, and glaring at the room that his brother had beat him to, brushed past his brother after he left the bathroom.

"I am so glad to have something on me!" Bile said after leaving the bathroom. The towel that had been around his waist was no longer on him; he was now wearing a dark blue t-shirt, that was lacking one of its sleeves, and that had a single tear on its chest, and a pair of dark brown pants. The socks that were on his feet were dark brown in color; the boots, while being the same color, were of the heavy-duty sort. "I'd be further scarred for life if I was forced to stay another day in this room with my near-naked brothers."

"Oh shut up," Lhaklar returned. Seeing as his mood was good, he said, "The wrinkles on my back aren't as gruesome as yours."

"Really? How about on your ass?" Bile asked.

"I'm younger than you, which means that I have less wrinkles than you." Lhaklar replied.

"Ma, let's chop off Lhaklar's leg to see how many "wrinkles" he has in it." Bile said.

"Last I heard, sweetie, it was rings instead of wrinkles inside legs." Angel said.

Hazaar ran out of the bathroom a few minutes later; instead of just placing his towel on the dresser he used it on Bile. Bile took two whaps to his hip, and then a whap to his ass, before turning and then going for him. While running from his older brother, he whapped the towel at Lhaklar; a similar amount of whaps were given to this brother of his before he found himself needing to "run" for his "life".

Bile and Lhaklar chased their younger brother, who was now wearing a pair of multi-brown pants, that were slightly faded at the knees, and that were greatly faded at both the inner and outer thighs, and a brown shirt that was tucked in, around the room a few times before deciding to stop. After doing what he considered a halfway decent morning workout, Hazaar plopped down on the foam siding of the bed. He put the pair of light brown socks that he had been given on then he reached for his shoes; Bile was fast in lunging for the pair of brown shoes that had light brown ties on them. He took them up then he held them mockingly.

"Hey!" Hazaar exclaimed as he jumped from the bed's foam siding and then leaped at his brother. "Gimme!"

"Can you reach them?" Bile asked as he held the shoes just barely out of his brother's reach. Hazaar leaped up for the shoes twice before grabbing the arm that they were being held in. He started pulling the arm down right after his hand was on it. "Lhaklar, catch!"

"Come on! Give me my damn shoes!" Hazaar said, he was starting to get angry. He turned his attention to Lhaklar now.

"Nope, these are our shoes now." Lhaklar said. He held his younger brother's shoes up high.

"Lhaklar!" Hazaar snarled. He made a fist then he swung it; Lhaklar groaned after his fist sailed into his stomach.

"Now I _know_ you won't be getting them back." Lhaklar said. He tossed the shoes to Bile then he grabbed at his stomach.

Lazeer, who was the final one of them to get dressed, looked on as Hazaar tried to tackle their oldest brother; all of what his father had retrieved and then given to him had been donned. Gone was the white towel that had adorned his lower half; he was now wearing a pair of dark gray pants, that were ripped at the knees, and a netted shirt that was a dark red color. The shoes that were on his feet were a multi-brown color; the ties that were on them were dark gray in color, the socks that were worn under his shoes were the same color.

Hazaar swung his fist a few times; Bile held his chest out, he acted tough with each swing then, when Lhaklar regain his composure, he threw the shoes. While Hazaar chased after his shoes he wasn't able to retrieve them; the shoes sailed across the room to Lhaklar, who either treated them like a football after catching them or held them just out of their brother's reach.

Hazaar was getting very annoyed now and Lazeer knew it; the fact that it wouldn't be long before something serious occurred was also known to him. He and Hazaar were both going through the dreaded Temperamental Phase, which caused one to get extra moody or emotional, but... but Hazaar seemed to be having a more difficult time with the phase than he was. Hazaar's experience with the phase was more anger-based than emotional; instead of being dragged down by emotional episodes, or being extremely confused due to his emotional episodes, Hazaar was more moody/angry. His brother was one who let his temper get the better of him; before the phase struck, Hazaar had just been a normal, hot-headed kid. Now he was super hot-headed, and sometimes difficult to get along with. Hazaar had tried to isolate himself several times; he had tried to stay in the room that they had shared when they had been living in their former apartment but their mother, after catching wind of his attempted isolations, had prevented him from doing so. Though he loved his brother he wasn't one to be but so quiet about his being around seventy percent fine to hang around with; the other thirty percent, he was just too damn ornery to be around.

While he was also experiencing the moody/angry episodes that were associated with the phase he was more dominated with experiencing the emotional aspects that some exhibited when they went through the phase. Their mother had said that everyone reacted in different fashions to the phase—some got particularly violent, like Bile had been when he had gone through the phase; some people were effected in a medium-fashion, like Lhaklar had been when he had gone through the phase; and some people were in-between the two, that was Hazaar. It looked like he was experiencing the phase in a lesser light—while he experienced mood swings, and snapped at others for no reason, and slapped certain things from their placed upon surfaces, or caused certain things to break, he was experiencing the more emotional side of the phase.

Even though the Temperamental Phase was being experienced he was more concerned with his eye issues; his depression over not being able to do as his brothers could when they went outside was bad and, really, he was doing nothing to get over it or to prevent it from gripping him. His depression had caused him to try the isolation thing as well—he'd just jump into bed and then say that he wasn't leaving it until after his eye issues cleared up or until something was gotten that'd give him the ability to go outside when the sun was out and in the open. Most of the time, his family had left him alone; on the times that they hadn't, a small physical or verbal altercation occurred—physical with his brothers and verbal with his mother, that was; he would never dare to place a wrong hand on his mother or cause her harm.

He ran forward right when Hazaar threw his fist into Lhaklar's shoulder; he leaped onto Lhaklar's back then he forced him to both drop to his knees and to drop the shoes. Hazaar was fast in grabbing his shoes up from the floor. Hazaar was just taking his shoes up from the floor when their father opened the door and then re-entered the room.

"Uh-uh, rule number one, don't wrestle unless its in the gym, boys." TazirVile said after returning to the room and then seeing that Lazeer was on top of Lhaklar, who was on his side.

"Sorry Tazzy, I usually don't let them wrestle inside." Angel said. "This one's on me, don't blame them."

"I'll look past it," TazirVile said. "I forgot how its like to have sons in the house—it'll take me a little while before I get the hang of it."

"Be warned, the old man just said that he's putting us boys on coat hangers." Lazeer said.

"You'll get use to them, and their antics, after a while—seems that as soon as I get use to one of their actions or hobbies they pick something else up." Angel said, she then gave Lazeer a warning glare to not make a joke out of what she had just said.


	4. Chapter 4

The order given to him and his co-workers had been simple: keep yourselves, and your movements and actions, quiet. No one had asked or even wondered about the reason to why this order had been given—it had been an automatic assumption that their employer wanted the house to be quiet for his just-returned family, who he didn't want to become even more nervous during the crucial twenty-four to a hundred and twenty hours that they were returned to being under his roof.

For the last three days, he had worked in silence; not a word, or a sound, had come from him during that time. The normal conversations that he'd have with his co-workers, the near-silent humming, and the normal movements that he'd do had all ceased in happening—his co-workers had done the same as he had during their time in working in and around their employer's mansion.

After sliding his employee card into the clock-in machine, that was in the office that was adjacent the employee garage, then digging his keys out from one of his pants pockets, he went to his car; working while having no restrictions to ones movements or in not having to keep your tongue in check was easy and a bit more exciting than that of what he had found himself doing these past three days, he was glad to finally be going home and he was happy to now have the opportunity to be more open and free.

"And, along with being as quiet as you can possibly be, please insure that all of what goes on in my home doesn't get spread—I want no news bulletins or newspaper articles to be shown or printed out about how my family is doing." his employer had said after giving the order for him and his co-workers to do the silent-working thing.

And he had full intentions of keeping his trap shut; no one that was standing outside of the gate and fence that was in front of his employer's house would hear a peep from him on what was going on with his employer or with his wife and sons.

The car that he went to, which was neatly parked in one of the garage's parking spaces, was called an Isetta Ni1; he had spent a little under $4000 for this car and he did his best to keep it well-maintained—with this being the vehicle that he depended on to get to work he had to keep it in tip-top shape. The car that he owned had been acquired by the human race one day in the late 1940's; after felling a spacecraft, that had been taking more than just the Isetta to a car show that had been held in a galaxy that was close to where the Milky Way Galaxy was, the humans had found and then taken the car and then started taking it apart—it had taken them a few years before finally figuring out how it worked and then to finally manufacture and then sell it to the populace. The Isetta Ni1 had been renamed after being figured out and then manufactured for sale—on Earth, it was called the BMW Isetta.

The vehicle that he owned and used was egg-shaped; not only did it have bubble-like windows but it also ran on three wheels—two were placed under the car's front while the third was in the back. The one who had owned the car before he had come along hadn't been taking good care of it—the paint had either been falling off or it had been fading in places; the upholstery had been coming down; the steering wheel had been in need of replacing; and the brakes had been shot. After buying it, then getting it moved to his parents' place, he had set to fixing it up—gone was the yucky green paint that had previously been on it; except for the white canvas top, it was a light blue color.

His car had just one door on it—unlike other vehicles, that had doors on their sides, this one's door was located on its front. The door was hinged on the outside; it swung up when its driver, or passenger, decided to exit it. Due to the steering wheel and instrument panel being on the car's front, they always went up when the car's door was opened. His Isetta was a two-person car—either he and a sibling, or he and a co-worker, or he and someone that he picked up as a date, could fit in it. Most of the time, it was either just he enjoying the ride or he had his sister, Mekaia, with him.

The whole interior, from upholstery to seats to floor, was cream in color; there was a large parcel shelf behind the vehicle's two seats from which a spare tire was located. The humans, after taking the car apart and then rebuilding it, hadn't been able to figure out the heating and cooling system—a small button, that was located under the dashboard, was what controlled that; how the humans hadn't been able to figure the button's use out was beyond him. The humans that owned and used the Isetta BMW either rode while having the windows down or they drove with the canvas top down—most of the time, he just drove with the windows and top up.

"Call home—Zultoa home-number." he said after getting into his car and then placing his cellular phone on the dash's top. His phone, which was one of them hands free types, was fast in doing as he had told it to do.

"Hello? Zshon?" the voice of his mother came through the phone's speaker right after the key was pushed into the car's ignition. He buckled himself into the driver's seat then he started driving after the car was started.

"Mother, who else would be calling at this time in the evening?" he said, then asked.

"You on your way home?" his mother asked him. "It's right late—I've kept supper warm for you."

"On my way now," he said. "Are Daosi, Yhozah, and Mekaia home yet?"

"They've been home for the last fifteen minutes," his mother replied. "They said that they had a rough day."

"As have I." he said.

"What happened? Did Mr. Surfeit—"

"I'll tell you when I get home." he said. "I'll be coming up the drive shortly."

Either Yhozah, who had done the honors of carpooling with Mekaia that morning, had teleported home or he had sped home; Daosi, who usually drove just himself to work, must of done one or the other as well—with their having clocked out a few minutes before he had, and with it being an hour and forty-five minute drive between his family's home and his employer's mansion, they had to of done one or the other of them things to get home so fast. The three were probably eating supper or, if they had already eaten supper, they were just lazing around before going up to get a few zzz's before having to get up and then get ready for the next day's schedule.

Of his parents' kids he was the oldest; he had been born three hundred and twenty years before Daosi had been conceived. He had many more siblings—in total, he had thirteen to hound him and drive him crazy; his grandparents were now hounding his father to get the units snipped, which he thought was a hoot. He just had three of his thirteen siblings to call his co-workers; the rest were either not adult enough to take on the job of working for his employer or they had other jobs. His father, who was very loyal to Mr. Surfeit, had gotten the idea of asking the man to employ some of his children after they had walked the graduating stage at Staffer's Academy and then aged a little. Along with being the oldest of his parents' children he had the most responsibility—Daosi and Yhozah came behind him in the responsibility grid. While most of his parents' children were single babies there had been three sets of twins born—only one of them sets was identical.

After snapping his phone shut, then returning his hand to the wheel, he got busy in driving home; his parents lived not only in the country but in a house that they had purchased some twenty thousand years ago. With there being an hour and forty-five minute drive ahead of him, he decided to turn the radio on; the little switch that was to the left of the wheel was flicked then his hand was returned to the wheel. He bobbed his head the entire time he was driving; the radio was turned off, and his head ceased its bobbing, after he pulled up in his family's driveway. With there being no traffic to worry about on this evening, he had been able to knock ten minutes from his trip.

"It's about time that you got here," his mother, Aboshi, said after stepping out onto the house's front porch. His mother was a lovely creature; her skin was green in color, she had yellow eyes, and long, light blonde hair. She stood a scant four foot, three inches. "Daosi, Yhozah, and Mekaia are already upstairs and getting ready for bed—they won't say a thing on what happened today and—"

"Nothing really happened today, Mother. Today was much like yesterday and the day before—we're all tired and a bit bored from having to work in absolute silence." he said after locking his car up in the small garage that was five yards from the house. "I take it that everyone else is upstairs and asleep?"

"Everyone but me, you, and your father." Aboshi replied. "He's waiting for you in the kitchen."

The house was big enough to fit twenty; his family, the spouses of Molwuff, Saplina, and Faalia included, was just one number away from having the house full to capacity—from the look of his mother's stomach, the capacity number to the house might be reached here in the next eight to nine months.

From what he had been told, his parents had met one another at a country club; despite being seated on opposite sides of the room, a mutual attraction had been gained, which had sparked into a sort of romance that his maternal grandparents still despised. His mother's father, Teromeo Raclomor, had not liked his father at all; he had either barred his father from seeing his mother or he had become a bit animalistic in trying to scare his father away—his mother was rather fond of telling the tale of how she had slipped out of the house at night to rendezvous with his father, and she was also rather fond of telling the tale of how her father had tried to prevent her from doing so by placing himself either by her open bedroom door or on the front porch. His grandfather, his mother claimed, always fell asleep while "on watch" so her attempts in leaving the house had always gone unhindered.

Aboshi Raclomor, at the time of the marriage to his father, and at the time of the after-marriage bedding, had been a virgin; he had been conceived right after their first coupling. He and his parents had lived in a small apartment for a few hundred years before the chance to be employed by Mr. TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit came around—his father, when he been employed to work for the man, had been four thousand and thirty years old. After moving from one location to the next, and taking up one of the apartments that were located under his employer's mansion, the house had been noticed and then purchased and then moved into.

The house was set tastefully back on a hill; there was a white picket fence surrounding it. The garage was the only thing that could be seen from the front; the jungle gym, and other outside play items, and his mother's garden were all in the backyard. The house had a brown-singled roof; the exterior walls were a light purple color. There was a large porch on the front with a small porch on the back. The front yard had a few, small, peach and apple trees in it; a bird bath, and a few benches, were placed between them.

"Papa," Zshon said after entering the kitchen. His father was sitting on one of the chairs that surrounded the kitchen table.

"How was it?" Eldass Zultoa asked. "Good or bad?"

"Same as yesterday—nothing except our being very quiet happened today." Zshon replied as he went to the microwave. He took his still warm supper out from the appliance then he walked it over to the kitchen table. "Got a feeling that we might be doing the quiet routine all week."

"Did you see them?" Eldass asked.

Had he seen them? A good question, and a question that had been asked for this past three days. The answer that he gave was the same as yesterday's—no, he hadn't seen them. He had heard a few things but he had seen nothing of them during his time in the mansion.

The boys, when they had been in the ship, had been seen by his eyes a few times; other than looking plain nervous, they had looked fine. He presumed that they were the same way three days after being removed from the ship. From what he had heard, a few things had happened that day that had caused his employer to be a bit unnerved in spending any length of time with them—something about one or more of the boys being a bit mouthy with him and something about Mistress Angel "cautioning" him to be careful of what he did when he was in the boys' company had been spoken of by his employer twice that morning and then afternoon.

Like with the previous two days, Mistress Angel and the Young Masters had stayed in the room that they had been put in; the door, while being opened a bunch of times, had never been left open after Master Tazir went in to spend some time with his family. Master Tazir, on some of the times that he had exited the room, had looked happy and pleased; on others, he had either looked a bit sad or unnerved or a bit tempered. The man was trying; he had to tip his hat at him for his attempts in getting the boys, and his wife, use to him. He was fully aware that, if it had been his employer's father, DuruVile Surfeit, doing the re-use to him thing, the boys would already be lacking sections of skin on their backsides—his employer was taking it slow, which was the right way of going through a re-integration. Master Tazir was doing the re-integration thing intelligently by doing things slowly, calmly, and by causing as little stress as he could think of.

"Wasn't expecting him to go by it in any other way," he thought after taking his place at the table.

His father, who was seated across from him, had been injured a month ago; while being on Earth, he had been grabbed and then thrown through a glass door and then been in a fight after climbing out from the glass debris that had come from the door—Young Master Hazaar was the one who had thrown him through the door and he was also the one who had fought and then further injured him. Master Tazir, after hearing the constant complaints that his father had been saying, had made the decision to send him home on the day that he had been injured; his father, as far as he could tell, wasn't sweating the not-wanted vacation. After getting home, then taking a trip to see a doctor, he had been told that he had a few bruised ribs, a two-inch long gash on the back and top of his head, and a nine-inch long gash on his chest; the gashes had been stitched up while the bruised ribs had been treated medicinally—the bruises that had been on his face, neck, arms, and legs had been allowed to heal on their own.

While his father looked old and feeble he really wasn't—his father was like him... he was immortal. The man had fluffy, white hair on his head—before Devlor and Seiqo were born, it had been a dull copper-red color. The wrinkles that were on his face were plentiful—it was these alone that made one who wasn't immortal think that he was old and feeble. The nose that was on his face was long; despite the largeness of the nostrils, no nose-hairs were able to be seen. His eyes were light blue in color and so was his skin complexion; he was four foot, seven inches tall. The body that he possessed, which was currently clothed in a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and brown shoes, was lean and strong—the muscle that was on his body was firm.

"Master Tazir spent around a quarter to half of the day with them," Zshon said after finishing his supper and then getting up to clean his dish and silverware. "Miss. Eshal wanted to see them this early afternoon. Her father said no on her doing so."

"Give it time—they'll come around to being both comfortable with their father and to being allowed to interact with their sister." his father said. "The environment that they've been brought to is new for them—I don't need to be told that they're nervous and scared of their surroundings."

"Papa, Young Master Bile and Lha—"

"It's been years, son. They've forgotten all about their old home. It'll take them a while to get use to living back at the mansion and it'll take a while before they start trusting their father." Eldass said, then added, "and us."

"Not sure what's going on when he goes into the room but I've heard a few things today that cause a few flags to be thrown up—one, or more, of the boys were said to be "mouthy" with their father and Mistress Angel was said to be cautioning her husband on what he does when he's with her and their sons." Zshon said after cleaning the items that he had eaten either on or with.

"Mistress Angel's just acting as any other mother should—she's insuring that her children are safe and that the ones around them aren't going to hurt or cause them harm." Eldass said. "You'll probably be hearing a lot of that going on for a few more days—they'll calm down gradually."

"The Young Masters' bedroom chambers were all done today—Master Tazir did the final touches on them." Zshon relayed.

"Mhmm, that's good." Eldass mused.

"Think I heard that an attempt to show them their chambers later on this week will be done." Zshon said. It was quiet between the two of them before he blurted, "I'm mostly concerned about how Mistress Angel is acting around her husband, Papa. She—"

"Give it time—she'll settle down, and return to being her old self around him, soon." Eldass said. "At the moment, her instincts are wrapped around her kids—one can't make a blind horse trust another in the blink of an eye and one can't make Mistress Angel trust her husband after she's been away from him for so long overnight. Master Tazir has to earn his sons', and his wife's, trust."

"Papa! Mistress Angel—"

"She'll come around first, yes, but even with her it will take some time." Eldass said. "The Young Masters, and that Reezal boy, will follow soon after she's settled and has started trusting her husband again."

"Lazeer, Papa. He was positively identified while on the way here." Zshon said. His father's head jerked up; he gave him a sharp look. "What? You've not heard that he was identified as Master Tazir's youngest son?"

"No; according to your mother, the cable went on the fritz soon after we left for Earth and the paper has either not been delivered or has been displaced or accidentally thrown out after its found on our doorstep." Eldass said.

This was the first time that he had heard of this happening; he was now aware of the reason to why he hadn't been seeing his siblings watching any tv and why he hadn't seen his father reading the morning newspaper. He was honestly surprised that the issue with the cable and newspaper providers hadn't been fixed—his father had been home for a month now and, from what he had just heard, the cable was still out and the paper was still not being found on their doorstep. He made a mental note right then and there to place a call to their cable and newspaper providers the next morning.

"The Gods have really looked out for Master Tazir and his family. I'm sure that he has a lot to think about and to be thankful for." Eldass said after a moment's pause. "In that case, it'll probably take him, and Young Master Hazaar, a little longer than their older brothers will in getting use to their father and to their new home."

With the conversation between he and his son looking to be over, and with his words on what was going on over at his employer's residence expressed, he got up then left the room; his son went on to do as he pleased before doing a quiet retreat to his bedroom.

With his being the longest employed member in his employer's staff, he was very loyal to his employer; he had been among the first batch of Goblins that had been employed by TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit and he was also the only one of that first batch of Goblins to still be working for the man. He had gained the title of Most Trusted after working for the man for a hundred and twelve years; up to Homsi's arrival, he had been the only one to have that title—the third man who "owned" the title of Most Trusted wasn't revered, or liked, very well by he and Homsi. They mostly ignored the man and they mostly just claimed that their employer had two Most Trusted staff members instead of three.

The reason to why everyone else in the first batch of Goblins left his employer's service was very simple: with their employer being new on the home-owning scene, and with his also not yet being involved in the conquering scene, he hadn't been able to pay them for their services. Most had left disgusted while others had left while being plain mad at the guy—while his bill had grown heavy, he hadn't left the man or had spoken a word bad of him. Master Tazir, at the time of his mansion's construction, and then occupation, and then employing his first staff to work his home and its surrounding land, had been a relatively unknown figure in the Universe—he had just been a normal person with a very high backing pedigree to his name. That had changed about six months later, when he had gone to conquer the Vaisha Galaxy, which had been full of gold and silver, semi-precious and precious gems, and oil—the mass amount of paper money that he had gained had come after the new government had been set in place.

The conquest of the Vaisha Galaxy had, at first, not been an easy one for his employer; with his being new on the scene, he had been required to learn and learn fast on how to conquer while also retaining his limbs and life and he had also had to worry about the ones that he was both fighting with and against. Even though he had made a name for himself after his first conquest a lot of the ones who had been employed to work for him, and who had walked out after not getting paid for their services, had not regarded him as a conqueror—really, it was only he who had remained on his employer's side and who had spoken good of him during this time. In all, it had taken four months for the Vaisha Galaxy to fall to his employer's capable hands—the first five planets that he had taken to conquer had been difficult for him to take under his control while he had had a better, and easier, go with the next ten to fifteen planets. After conquering them planets, he had made the decision to put a halt to his conquest to see about gaining a group of beings to fight alongside him.

"The man had really risked his neck, and his life, after approaching the men who would become the first one thousand in his military." he thought as he stopped before the open doorway that went to his, and his family's, living room.

The men, who had just graduated from Militant's Academy, had all been picked for their fierce drive and for their fierceness—with their not having any loyalty to his employer, his employer could well of been maimed for life or killed. After approaching these men, then promising them a certain bit of the profits that'd come from the first two to three months after the galaxy was fully conquered, he and they had gone to war; with his army in place, and running behind him, he had conquered planet after planet with very little trouble.

Unlike his brother, who let his army fight in front of him while he did nothing more than stand on a high area, watching them fight and fall—and who only made use of his powers when he saw fit to do so—, his employer had been fully involved with his conquests. Along with running in front of his army, he had fought with both his sword and powers and had put more than enough physical strength in when certain situations called for hand-to-hand combat to be utilized. In all, it had taken three planetary conquests before the one thousand composing militants in his newly made army decided to pledge loyalty to him—along with being very impressed with his fighting prowess, and with how steadfast he was in battle, they had also liked how much of a leader he was with them.

His family, both before and after the Vaisha Galaxy was conquered, had thought the man crazy; with his running in front of his army, dodging the first line of fire, which had been solely directed at him, he had honestly seen right in them doing so—despite being out and in the open, and running a further risk in having his life cut short, his employer had known what he had been doing. Most of the time, when his army reached the ones that they were fighting, their commander was already surrounded and fighting off the ones that were surrounding him. Master Tazir had used every bit of his strength, intelligence, endurance, and bravery to win the Vaisha Galaxy.

Just before moving off to the house's front, he remembered what he had seen on the live broadcast that had been shot on the planet Caicla. A terrific war-cry had been issued from his employer, then his employer's sword had been jabbed at the sky, then he had gone tearing towards the enemy at break-neck speed—all matter of bombs and bullets, and power attacks, had been thrown at him to no avail; he had dodged each and every attempt that the opposing forces had been doing in trying to take him down. He had only stopped his charge after reaching the opposing army's front line; around a hundred or so had been felled before he had dropped to a low crouch and then sprang up and then forward—the man had looked much like a cricket when he had done this; this move of his had catapulted him to the enemy's center and it had also caused the enemy's attention to be pulled completely away from the still progressing forward troops that had been around ten to fifteen yards in front of them. All that he had learned from his father, from sword fighting to power fighting to hand-to-hand combat, had been used afterwards. By the time that his army had gotten to the opposing forces, the opposing forces had been near to surrendering—shock over being bested by one opponent, coupled by the heavy injuries and casualties, had given their nerves a good rattling.

His army had surrounded the opposing forces in ten minutes time; around half of the division's forces had either been dead or very badly injured at the time—the Lieutenants in charge of that unit had taken one look at their 10,000 member army before turning tail and then fleeing, the commanders of the next three units had done the same thing ten to fifteen minutes later. In all, it had taken his employer two hours of warfare before Caicla issued a full surrender—Master Tazir's flag had been placed to the planet's soil after that occurred.

His employer had had a few injuries to him—there had been a few cuts and scrapes on his arms and legs, and his right elbow had been sliced open, but he had been in good spirits and, furthermore, in good health. Master Tazir had wasted no time in going on to the other planets that were in the galaxy after that planet was felled to his control.

"His conquest of the Andromeda Galaxy didn't go as smoothly as his conquest of the Vaisha Galaxy did... at first."

Of course, his employer, and his army, wasn't to blame for the slow process that had happened for the Andromeda Galaxy to be conquered; a lot had been going on at home that had caused his employer's mind to not be as steadfast to the task of taking that galaxy under his control. Along with having a very money-greedy wife, who had loved her husband more for his money than for himself, he had also just become a father—at the time that the Vaisha Galaxy was being conquered, his employer hadn't had any emotional attachments or children to worry about. The Andromedians really had his employer's current wife to thank for their realm's conquest... and for the monster that had been unleashed on them—if not for her taking Miss. Eshal the rest of the galaxy would not of been conquered so swiftly and the Dolis family, who had been the galaxy's rulers before his employer came along, wouldn't of fled for their lives.

It hadn't been until Mistress Angel appeared on the red-ice moon of Ite, which orbited the planet of Ute, with Miss. Eshal that the monster, who he hadn't known existed in his employer, had calmed down and then gone into semi-hibernation. Mistress Angel, from what he had been told, had taken Eshal as a way to teach his employer who not to mess with and betray—she, herself, had been the one getting a lesson; she had learned the very valuable lesson on how not to cross her husband's path.

He had fourteen children—nine sons and five daughters... if someone had dared to take one of them from him he would of done more than be merciful with them. He'd of throttled whoever it was without worry of the consequences. After Miss. Eshal had been retrieved, and after Mistress Angel had been captured, he had thought that his employer would be more than a little hard on the one who had taken his daughter—while he had been hard he had also been right lenient towards her as well. It had taken him and his co-workers a few days to figure out what it was that the two were doing in the chamber that his employer called his bedroom—no sort of intimidation, where his employer was forcing her to sleep with him or in the same bed with him had been done... his employer had been sweet on the girl who had taken his daughter and, what's more, he had also coupled with her. On the day that Mistress Angel, who hadn't been Mistress Angel at this event's occurrence, escaped his employer his employer had gone to get some answers on what was going on between he and her—they had all found out that he was her Universal Husband and that she was his Universal Wife after his employer's questions had been answered.

"He's fought and won plenty of major battles in the past, and he tamed Mistress Angel when no other man could." Eldass thought both silently and aloud. "He'll win this new battle of winning his wife's, and sons', trust as well."

"Eldass..." his wife called down from the balcony that overlooked the foyer of their home. "coming to bed?"

"Yes—on my way now." Eldass said, then started for the stairs.


	5. Chapter 5

"Mam!" Eshal exclaimed after the door to the room that her mother and brothers were in was opened. Before her father could shush her, or prevent her from charging into the room, she ran past him.

The second the door was open, and the girl was rushing towards her, she turned her head; Angel looked at the girl, who she couldn't place a name to for a fraction of a second, then she placed judgement on her being 'excited' before noting that she was fine to be around the boys. While true, she did know the room that they were in, and while true, she was taking a short while to settle in with her and the boys' new living arrangements, she wasn't regarding anyone who lived or worked in the house distrustfully. The second she noticed who the girl was, and then deduced that she was better than fine to be in the room with her and her sons, she calmed down.

Breakfast, on that fifth morning of her and her sons' return to the mansion, had been delivered to them an hour and a half ago; except for the pancakes being banana-cinnamon flavored, and having a chocolate filling in them, and except for the bowl of fruit being exchanged for a bowl of eggs, the meal had been the same as yesterday's and as the three days that had preceded yesterday's.

Her sons really had her to thank for their having eggs with that morning's meal—yesterday, after consuming a meal of steak, baked potato salad, and green beans for supper, and then having a slice of chocolate cake for dessert, she had taken her husband to the side to discuss with him about the next meal needing to have a small change to it. Tazir had heeded her advice by not only making a different variety of pancakes but by also giving them a bowl of eggs to go with the bacon slices and link sausage pieces. She and her sons had enjoyed the change in the menu and she had made sure to thank the "chef" for his meal and in telling her sons to thank him for his troubles too.

"Eshal?" Angel said after the girl stopped before her, and after a full thirty seconds went by.

"Uh-huh." Eshal nodded her head.

"You have really grown!" Angel said. She reached over then grabbed the girl, who was her adopted daughter, up in a hug. Eshal was fast in returning her hug.

The girl that she had seen on that program, Exposure Hour, had looked pretty well mature; now that she was before that girl, and was able to take in her appearance at a closer distance, she could see that she was a lot more mature that she had initially thought she was.

Gone was the girl that she had taken under her wing as a child; gone was the girl that she had once tucked into bed, and comforted during a fierce thunderstorm, and read written stories and told stories on her life to before it was time for everyone to go to bed. The girl that she had left sixteen hundred years ago looked very much like a teenager now—while giving this girl a hug, she pinched herself to see if what she was seeing was correct or not.

Eshal, who's full name was EshalVile Eskara Surfeit, had taken most of her physical appearance from her real mother—Bespe Rakaduc. While the light blue skin complexion, and the suction cups that were on the ends of each of her fingers, had come from her father the rest of her had come from her mother. Her eyes were very unique, and they made her look even prettier and even more feminine; the color was green, the pupils that lie in their centers were black, and the shape was cat-like. Her mouth was heart-shaped; she had a small nose on her face; and the cheek bones that were in her face were set up high. The hair that she had on her head had been allowed to grow out; the light blue portion of her hair flowed all the way down her back while her bangs, which were a medium-purple color, dropped to nearly her eye-line.

Her daughter was wearing attire that was very appropriate for a female teenager to wear; the black slacks weren't but so tight on her legs, the red and purple blouse, that had a ruffled collar on it, was loose—so loose that she could barely see her perky breasts—, and the two-inch heels that were on her feet were purple. The amethyst necklace that hung around her neck looked rather expensive, as did the two matching bracelets that were on her wrists.

Eshal, at nine hundred years of age, had been five feet tall; now, at two thousand, five hundred, and one years of age, she stood five foot, four inches tall.

"Your daddy's done real well with you," Angel said after releasing her daughter from her embrace. "You're all grown up now."

"Well, not yet my love. She has a couple hundred years to go before she can be considered a grown-up." TazirVile replied. After saying this, he entered the room then strode up to his wife; he leaned down after reaching her then whispered, "Hope it's alright that she visits for a while. She wanted to see you and her brothers."

"Fine with me—just take it easy." Angel whispered back.

As his parents were talking among themselves about how well-grown Eshal was, and while Eshal took him and his brothers in, he was thinking about the events that had happened over the last two days.

The last two days had been like the other three that they had spent in the mansion—slow and rather boring. Except for when they were brought their meals, nothing had happened to make the day seem less slow or boring. The old man had come into "their" room about a dozen times yesterday and the day before; their meals, or a snack, had been delivered, then the trays, with their various dishware and silverware included, had been taken after everything was consumed, then they had been left alone for about fifteen or twenty minutes before the man returned to spend fifteen to twenty minutes with them. It hadn't taken them long to grow tired of watching the room's tv; with nothing but tv watching to do, they had watched a lot of tv over the last two days—as far as he could tell, none of them had picked up any fancies on the programs that he had landed on while channel surfing.

While Lhaklar was much the same around the old man Hazaar and Lazeer seemed to of grown a little more calmer around him; two days ago, when the man came in to spend some time with them, Hazaar and Lazeer had either been keeping ma close, or had been close to sitting on her, or had just plain stood clear away from him. His two, younger brothers, though still looking to not be as "settled" with the man's company, weren't doing that this morning. He, at around noon yesterday, and then before taking up a plate and then making himself his breakfast that morning, had indulged in a few, small conversations with the man who he regarded as his true paternal figure; he wasn't as nervous or as tense around the man anymore.

Five days ago, after entering the mansion that he had called home during his kid years, his nervousness gauge had been a high-level ten; he estimated that it was now at a low five.

Lhaklar, despite still acting the same around the old man, had done a change in his demeanor yesterday—he was a nervous wreck, which was surprising. While he wanted to place the blame for his brother's nervousness on Hazaar and Lazeer he also wanted to say that there was something else fueling it. Even though Lhaklar was a hundred years younger than he, and a few hundred years older than Hazaar and Lazeer, he was a very mature individual—sometimes, so much so that it was annoying. Lhaklar sometimes tried to be the "daddy" figure of him and their brothers, which was more than a little annoying; his brother was his brother, he shouldn't be acting or regarding himself in that way with them. On Earth, Lhaklar hadn't only had a job but had also been helping with the family finances; ma hadn't wanted his brother to go out to get a job—she had been downright against it for several reasons, one revolving around her wanting him to remain a kid and to not have any adult-related stresses on his shoulders to worry about—but he had still gone out to get one. After seeing him walking around with a fake I.D. in his wallet, and then busting his balls on the constant questions on how he had gotten it and on who had made it for him, he had gotten himself a fake I.D. made and then gone into an establishment called Kale's World to see if the owner was looking to hire anyone—after getting his stripper-job, his brother had come home and then fabricated a story about his getting a job as being a cashier at Walmart.

Surprisingly, ma had believed him; while he, Hazaar, and Lazeer all knew about the ruse, and about what their brother had really been doing, they had said nothing about what he had really been doing at his "job". They had figured that, if their mother was to find out about the real job that their brother had, then she was to find out about it on her own.

Lhaklar's over-nervousness was so surprising because, while he did try his best to stay out of stressful situations, he was usually very calm, cool, and collected whenever he was in one of them. He, and his mother, were keeping a good eye on him; neither of them wanted him to have an episode.

"Bile, is that you?" Eshal asked him.

"Last time I checked my tags I was," Bile said.

"You've gotten big!" Eshal exclaimed. "What do you weigh now? How tall are you?"

"Six-three and two hundred and fifty." Bile replied. "And not a speck of that is fat."

"You look really strong..." Eshal said. "Bet you'll be doing time in the gym soon."

"Probably will," Bile said. Even though it was a lie, he couldn't help but throw a little fib out at his sister. "I can easily lift two hundred pounds."

"What!" TazirVile gasped. "Angel—"

"Show off! Last time I checked, you struggle when you lift anything that's over a hundred and twenty pounds." Hazaar snapped.

As of yesterday, he had been let in on the know on a few things about his sons; while keeping his rump seated on the room's darker colored chair, he had taken in everything that his wife had spoken of in accord to the boys and he had listened to all that the boys had had to say on what she had been telling him.

Bile, he had been told, had two powers to his disposal—Energy, which was the basic power for anyone who had been gifted the knowledge or talent of powers, and Elemental, which was considered to be a Surfeit-only power. Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer, while also knowing Energy and Elemental powers, could also do Acidic powers—while Lhaklar and Hazaar had been described as either knowing the bare basics of the power or being half-taught with the power Lazeer had been described as being a natural with the power. Angel claimed that all of her sons had been trained on how to use a sword.

His father would probably flip after learning that his biological sons knew and had been trained by a natural wielder of Elemental powers; while on Earth, the man had said time and again that he couldn't pass anything but a bad cold to his offspring... the knowledge of his sons having and knowing how to use Elemental powers would be like a good slap to the face for him. The same for the boys also knowing how to use a sword.

He had already known about Bile knowing how to hunt—in late August, his younger half-brother, Amadh, had come across him after he had come off as being successful in hunting a bull deer—but he hadn't had any inklings to the other boys also knowing how to hunt. While this was good information to know he wasn't about to allow the boys to go out, putting themselves in danger while on the hunt. So much could happen that he just didn't want to happen—the boys were much too young to be going out to hunt, whether supervised or not.

Like with knowing that Bile had already been allowed to partake in hunting activities, he had already known that all four of the boys had gone to Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic and that Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer had also gone to the University of Telepathy; along with their forms, and rank cards, he also had the records that had been in the two schools' archives in his office. He also had several tapes from when Bile had run track in his office; only two tapes from when Lhaklar and Hazaar had run track had been found—Lhaklar, it seemed, had run track at both schools while Hazaar had only done track at the University of Telepathy.

An emphasis on the boys having a normal sibling rivalry to them had been made by Angel; Hazaar had been described as being very caught up with the Temperamental phase while Lazeer had been described as not having as bad of a go with the phase as his brother was—to find that he had two sons who were going through the phase had been a shock. He had made a mental note about the two going through the phase at the same time and he had also made a mental note to send correspondence to his mother and stepfather about the two going through the phase at the same time—the fact of Lazeer going through the phase only emphasized how healthy and on-schedule he was; if his son wasn't healthy, or on-schedule for his age, he wouldn't be going through the phase. As he already knew, the boys were phenomenally close to their mother—they obeyed and listened to her well; he was looking forward to when they'd do the same with him.

Bile and Lhaklar remembered the mansion well; they had spoken of the pool, the gym, and they had also beat around the bush on asking about their old chambers. Bile had also asked if the house's theater was still up and running—this question had done more than shock the socks from his feet; at the time of the boys' disappearance, Bile had only been in the house's theater room three times in his life. Hazaar and Lazeer didn't know a thing about the mansion; they had listened to their brothers talk about the house but they had said nothing in regards to it. Both were still rather wary of him; he was taking his time in getting them use to him—whenever he entered the room, he just took a seat then started talking.

"BroSis has really gotten big." Eshal said enthusiastically.

"It's Hazaar you bi—"

"Hazaar, hush!" Angel was fast in silencing her son, who had been about to call his sister a bitch. After silencing her son, then giving him a warning look, she turned her attention back to her daughter. "Eshal, if you're to use a different name with your brother please use Hazie okay? He doesn't like being called BroSis."

"I called him that when he was a baby." Eshal said. She glanced at her father, who did nothing more than look down at her; after getting no word from him, she turned back to look at her mother.

"I know, honey. But he's not a baby anymore, he's—"

"I am too!" Hazaar exclaimed. He forgot all about the man that was in the room with them; he rushed over then he grabbed his mother up in a hug. "I'm yours."

He had absolutely no time to prepare for it or to prevent himself from doing the action that caused a violent reaction from his son to occur; after seeing his secondborn son being so close to him, and after seeing Eshal take four steps away from him, he had stepped forward. After reaching the space that was around Hazaar's personal space bubble, he had stretched his hand out to him; the simple action of his hand being plopped on his son's shoulder caused his son to wheel on him. Hazaar's fists were swung twice—one of the swings caught him in the jaw while the other missed its mark by a mile.

His wife reacted by grabbing their son; she pulled him back to about a half dozen steps from him then she turned him around. She told him to cool it, and then to calm down after seeing how worked up he was, then she grabbed him up in a hug after he started blubbering. His action in taking a step towards the pair caused Hazaar's blubbering to cease; his son came at him like a savage right after noticing him coming in.

Lhaklar, after his brother lunged at him, rushed over; he wrapped his arms around Hazaar's waist then he lifted him up. Hazaar was "heaved" to about an inch to two inches from the floor then he was "carried" over to the bed; the second Lhaklar released his brother, he found himself being turned on—in his hysteria, Hazaar turned then swung his left fist, which collided with his brother's Adam's apple.

Angel rushed forward right after her secondborn son grabbed at his throat; she grabbed Hazaar by his shirt then she made him sit down. With their son on the bed, and looking to be calming down, she turned to look at him and his daughter.

"It was nice seeing you, Eshal." she said. "Tazzy, you best check your jaw now."

Eshal didn't wait to receive word from him on leaving the room—she was fast to turn on her heels and she was fast in racing from the room; where she went afterwards he didn't know. In the hour that spanned between the violent, but perfectly understandable, altercation that occurred between he and his son he neither heard nor saw a thing of her.

He knew well that what had happened wouldn't of happened if he hadn't of gone and placed his hand on his son; if he had just stayed back after his son rushed forward to give his mother a hug he wouldn't of been punched. He didn't place blame on Hazaar for his square-hit to his jaw, or for his lunging at him after noticing that he was coming towards him—the boy didn't know him, and it was quite evident that he was afraid of him, which would warrant such a reaction like that happening.

Some children, instead of thinking over their reactions before doing them, just reacted without putting thought in on what they were doing while others just did the run and then hide thing before becoming violent; Hazaar, TazirVile was fast in recognizing, was one who would fight his fears. His son wasn't dangerous, he knew that, but he could be if there wasn't someone that he knew with or around him—he could well of made it ten times worse if he had grabbed his son after being punched by him. The fact that he could of made it worse by chiding him, or by disciplining him, didn't get by him either.

As he saw it, he was being wise in staying away for a while. His jaw was fine; it was bruised, and a bit swollen, but it was fine. He saw the bruise, and the off-swelling that was going on on its right side, as a lesson; he had made a mistake in putting his hand on his son and he was going through the consequences of that mistake. Was he going to be afraid of entering the room that his wife and sons were in? Was he going to stand by the door like a little frightened cat after he decided to go back in for another fifteen to twenty minute visit? No; he'd simply walk into the room, then glance around before heading for one of the room's vacant chairs.

His son would come around; one of these days they would come around to seeing that he wasn't one to fear or mistrust.

After an hour passed, he went upstairs; after piddling around with the chambers that were all fixed up and ready for his sons, he picked a few things up that he thought the boys would like to have returned to them then he went down to the level that they, and their mother, were on. When he reached the room, which had been closed up after he and Eshal left it, he shifted the box that he had in his arms a bit before reaching forward to knock; as usual, his wife, twenty to twenty-five seconds later, was the one to say that it was okay for him to come in.

"You alright?" Angel asked after he entered the room. He could tell that she was concerned; this, alone, caused his spirits in regards to how much she still loved and cared for him to soar—he was very aware that if she didn't love, or care for him she wouldn't of asked him if he was alright or not. "Anything broken?"

"No—my jaw's bruised, and a little swollen, but it's alright." he replied. He then turned his attention towards his son. "Is he alright?"

"Yes," Angel nodded her head, then gestured towards their son. "As you can see, Hazaar's fine."

Yes, he could see his son—instead of looking "fine", like his mother had just described him as being, he looked a bit unnerved. Hazaar was still on the bed; his legs were both crossed and were pulled up to his chest, it looked like he had a very nervous look on his face. Just one look at his son told him that his action of placing his hand on him had reverted him to being as he had been two days ago—now that he saw his son's state, he wanted to give himself a royal kick in the ass.

After noting how his son looked, and how his demeanor had become changed, he went over to the room's chair and ottoman; he sat down, then he placed the box on the ottoman, then he started rummaging through it. Lazeer, who was a few feet from him, gave him a curious look but he said nothing pertaining to what he was doing.

He neither fumbled or sifted through the box's contents; he just picked the first item that his hand landed on up then showed it. The item that he was holding out to the boys was a wallet; with the way it looked, he had a feeling that it was Bile's. The black leather material that had been used to make the wallet was thick; there were two studs on its flap; and the chain that ran from the item's left corner was thick, heavy, and "gold" in color.

After taking the wallet out from the box, then holding it out, he wasn't but so surprised in seeing Bile, his adopted son, stepping forward to collect it. Bile, after taking it from him, opened it then did as any other owner of a wallet that had been taken would do—the wallet, after being opened, was inspected.

"Not a thing taken," TazirVile noted that his adopted son was fibbing; the wallet was, indeed, missing something. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," TazirVile said.

He gave it a good consideration about voicing his... shock and displeasure over his adopted son having three photographs that were inappropriate for one of his age in his wallet; he had come very close to removing the photographs and then disposing them before, at the very last second, deciding to let them remain in the wallet.

To him, his adopted son had Man's photographs—photographs that were fit for only a man to have and look at—in his wallet. His eyes had more than grown wide after the photograph of the very busty woman had been seen; this woman, who had slanted eyes, and oriental facial features, was wearing absolutely nothing on her top half. Her bottom half was the only thing that was clothed—which he was more than glad for; the blue, wrap-around skirt did well in keeping her lower, girlie parts covered. The second photograph that was in the wallet was of another half-dressed woman; this one, who was wearing a simple pair of slacks on her bottom half, was doing nothing more than looking down at the barely noticeable floorboards that were present in the picture. The third photograph had caused him to drop the wallet and then shake his head; why he hadn't confiscated that one was beyond him but, yeah, he had left the thing be in its sleeve. The woman in the third photograph, that was present in one of the wallet's three photo sleeves, was wearing nothing at all; a thin piece of fabric, which had been placed across her waist, and a heart-shaped charm necklace were the only two things that she had on her body. It was the fact of the woman's leg being held up, in a sultry way, that had caused him to get a wee bit excited; he saw no point in her having a cigarette but, yeah, she had been photographed while having a cigarette between the index and middle fingers of one of her hands.

Boys will be boys—he guessed that this was why he had left the three photographs be in the wallet. While he was a grown man he wasn't above the notion of having risque photographs in his wallet—he had a photograph of his wife, who was sitting sideways, and who was half naked, in his wallet; the photograph that his nephew had given him, which he had never returned to him, from before his wife had become his wife was also in his wallet.

After returning the wallet to his adopted son he reached back into the box; the next wallet that he took out had also been made out of a thick leather material, but this material was brown in color instead of black. It had red stitching on its outer edges. He wasted not a second in holding this wallet, which had a photo I.D. in one of its sleeves that had his son's image on it, out to his oldest born son; Lhaklar came forward at once to retrieve it. Like with Bile, Lhaklar opened and then inspected the items that were in the wallet after reclaiming it as his.

"Lhaklar! What the... you been robbing banks or something?" Angel exclaimed after seeing the large wad of cash that her son had just taken from his wallet.

"No—along with saving everything that I find on the ground, and all of what I make extra at work, I've been saving all of what I have left of the allowance that you give me." Lhaklar replied, he started counting the money. "Yep, all here."

"My curious mind wants to know how much you have in your hand," Angel said.

"Two thousand, one hundred, and eighty-eight dollars."

"What!"

He found himself to be curious about the one fact that had just been made known to him—Lhaklar, his oldest-born son, had had a job? His son, who was no more than two thousand, one hundred years of age, had been on the workforce before he had come along to claim both he, his brothers, and his mother? What job would pay one of his son's age so handsomely for the amount of dough that his son had? He had been "naughty" in taking the cash out from the wallet and then counting it—his son had as much as he currently did, which was a big surprise.

He had thought long and hard about putting the cash in an envelope and then putting the envelope in his safe; his son, at a later time, after he was more settled in on living at his birth and raising-place, would be allowed to have small amounts of it but he'd not be allowed to have all of it to blow at a time—before the trust thing had rang in his head, this had been his plan on what he was to do with the money that he had found in his son's wallet. The money had been returned to the wallet after the trust thing came to him; while the money was where it was suppose to be there were two things that were missing in the wallet. One of the two things that he had confiscated had been a rubber; why that had been on his son's possession was beyond him. Lhaklar was much too young to be thinking about sex; he had taken the prophylactic under the pretext of his wanting to be sure that his son got no crazy ideas about having sex at his age.

He knew that kids carried the weirdest of things on their person for luck; he, as a young teenager, had carried a copper and silver coin in his pocket for years—it had been sitting on the dash of his father's car, his father had said that he didn't care whether he took the thing or not so he had just taken it and then pocketed it without running the worry of getting a good welt to his backside. The coin had been moved from his pocket to his wallet six years later; a gold candy wrapper, that had been found lying out in his father's front yard one day, had joined it—he had been hoping to get double luck by having both it and the coin on his person.

Regardless of his son's intention for that rubber, he wasn't about to allow him to have one on his person until he was of age to both have and use them.

After Lhaklar returned the money to the wallet, then placed the wallet in his back pants pocket, then walked off, he reached back into the box; the next wallet that he took out was rather unique. It had an all-black leather material on it; a stallion's head, and a small portion of the stallion's neck, had been engraved on both of the item's sides. A horseshoe had been engraved around the stallion. Sensing that this wallet belonged to his youngest son, he turned then showed it to him; Lazeer nodded his head after seeing the wallet. He tossed the wallet over to his son then he reached his hand back into the box; the final wallet that he removed had been made out of a red-brown leather material. The pattern on the wallet's front flap was very crocodile-like in appearance. After taking the wallet out, he held it out for his wife to take; Angel took the wallet from him then walked it over to Hazaar, who was slow in both taking it from her and in placing it in his back pants pocket.

"Who's the one that had the twin-blade pocketknife?" TazirVile asked. The knife that was in his hand was light in weight and was black on one of its sides; the other side was a metal-silver color.

"Me," Lazeer said in a weak voice.

"Don't hurt yourself with it now," TazirVile said. He tossed the knife over to his youngest son, who caught it then quickly stuffed it into the front left pocket of his pants. With that done, he said, "You and I need to talk about that knife. I like the design."

"Your daddy is one who likes bats, Lazie." Angel clarified what he had said.

"My wife, I do think, remembers me and my tastes well." TazirVile said. He smiled at his wife, who returned his smile quickly; with this done between then, he returned his hand to the box. "Bile, I take it that this knife is yours?"

He had never seen a knife like that of what he had found in one of the pockets of the pair of pants that had been left with the other clothes in his ship's medical chamber; all of what his sons had worn on the day of their capture had been collected and then stored in a box, he had looked through everything that had been collected and he had also placed certain things that he had thought were important away for sake-keeping. The knife was either Bile's or Lhaklar's; with its shape and design, he automatically thought that it belonged to his adopted son.

The knife had a big handle to it, which had four blades in it; the seven-inch, the six-inch, the four-inch, and the small, two-inch blades were all well-contained. The handle had a very well-polished and shiny, Dragon-Motorcycle design to it, which he thought was very unique. After finding this knife, then opening it, he had tested its four blades for their sharpness; the seven and six-inch blades were quite sharp while the four and two-inch blades were a little on the dull side—he could barely cut through a piece of paper with the four-inch blade while the two-inch blade had plain refused to cut the piece of paper that he had held to it.

As he had expected, Bile walked up after he spoke about the knife; he took the knife, then he pocketed it, then he thanked him for returning it to him. He said his welcomes then he reached into the box for the second to last knife that was in it; the next knife that he took out had a medium redwood handle on it that housed a four-inch stainless steel blade. He didn't need to be told that this was Lhaklar's; he remembered all too well that his oldest born son had had a knife such as this on his person at one time a few months ago. He tossed the pocketknife over to his firstborn son then he put his hand back into the box for the last remaining knife.

"Maybe I shouldn't," he thought after taking the final knife out of the box.

He thought long and hard about returning the knife that he had in his hand to his son; with Hazaar being in the state that he was in, he might well use it on someone without realizing that he was using it. Now that he thought of it, maybe he shouldn't of returned Lazeer's knife to him—he, at both Hazaar's and Lazeer's age, hadn't been allowed to have knives; along with not being allowed to own a knife, or have knives on his person, he had been watched like a hawk whenever a normal dinner knife was in his hand and was being used on whatever he had been given to eat for supper. Like all mid-teenagers, he had been curious about knives; his parents had decided that his having a knife would be much like his having a gun—at that time in his life, they had thought that it'd be too risky for him to have a knife.

The knife that he was holding was small; it had a four-inch blade in it that was bronze in color. The handle was gold in color and was shaped like a dragon; to him, it still looked like it had a wing-shaped can opener on its back. Like with Lazeer's knife, and Bile's, he thought that it was unique and, just like theirs, he liked it.

After giving it a good thinking over, he held the knife out to his wife; she, at once, came over to retrieve it. Once it was in her possession, she took it over to their son.

"Think your father is thinking the same as I with this, Hazaar." he heard his wife say to Hazaar. "You be careful—you use, or act as if you're going for it, and it'll be taken away. Hear me?"

"Yes momma." Hazaar said. He took the knife from his mother then he stuffed it into the front right pocket of his pants.

With the knives and wallets squared away, he turned his attention to the non-worry items that were in the box; the November edition of a magazine called Playboy was taken out and then given to his wife then the cigarette case was taken out. He held this case, which was silver-aluminum in color, and that had an etching of a bull deer leaping over a log on its top side, out to Lhaklar; except for the cigarettes that had formerly been in it it was intact. Lhaklar took it without saying a word to him.

The next few items that were in the box he had found in the car, which had been found in the parking lot that had been adjacent the dump that the boys had been retrieved from. A big, black canvas bag was removed and then held out; with the exception of the bagged pot, and the joints, that had formerly been in the bag everything was intact—it seemed that one of the boys had an interest in music that he thought was very harmful to the ear. There were ten music discs in the bag—Judas Priests's Screaming for Vengeance, Ozzy Osbourne's Bark At The Moon, Disturbed's Indestructible, Hinder's All American Nightmare, Three Days Grace's Human, Rammstein's Sehnsecht, Godsmack's Faceless, AC/DC's The Razor's Edge, Hollywood Undead, and Motley Crue's Theater of Pain.

The bag had no more been held out before being retrieved; Bile stepped forward, then took the bag, then thanked him before moving off.

"Who was it that drove the car?" TazirVile asked. He decided to cut to the chase in who owned the deep red car that he had found in the dump's adjacent parking lot—at the moment, it was "taking up space" in his garage; after finding his wife's, and the boys', DNA in it he had decided to send it to his garage for safe-keeping. "The Buick Lew—"

"The Buick Lucerne? That's my car." Angel said. "I let Bile, Hazaar, and Lazeer have it on the day that you... reclaimed us."

"Baby, you do know that the boys are much too young to be driving?" TazirVile asked. Along with the bags of pot, and the joints that had been in the canvas bag, he had also confiscated all of the driver's licenses that had been found in the boys' wallets.

"What the Universe doesn't know won't hurt anyone." Angel said. "They drive very well—all of them do."

He was a bit disrespectful in regards to the piece of information that he had just been given about the boys driving—he didn't care if they were good, suburb, excellent, or halfway decent drivers; now that they were under his roof, none of the boys would be driving until after they reached the legal, appropriate age to do so. Teenagers were not good drivers; he knew from experience, and from hearing stories on how certain male members of his family had been when they had taken it under their caps to go on a "pleasure" drive with one of their father's cars, about how they were when they drove.

Kuruk, his older half-brother, had been very foot heavy when he had started driving—one time, when he had been one thousand, three hundred, and nine years old, he had come very close to rolling one of their father's cars over to its side after deciding to take it for a "cruise" down the stretch of road that the old place was located on. Vile—his nephew, his wife's father and Family Husband, and Bile's biological father—had actually had the nerve to steal one of his father's cars after a fight occurred between he and his father; from what he had been told, Vile had managed to speed the vehicle down the road about ten miles before losing control and then nearly wrapping it around a tree. Vile had been one thousand, four hundred, and three years old at the time of that occurrence.

He could take the loss of his vehicles, and the insurance claims, and having to purchase another to replace them, but he couldn't take the loss of one of his loved ones—he did not want to lose any of his children or his wife.

TazirVile reached his hand back into the box; he took out several more boxes, which had been shrinked to a smaller size after he had said a spell to make them become smaller. Once these were out, then placed on the bench that was close to the bed, he said the spell that'd make them return to their original sizes; each box contained a slew of plastic bags in them that, he guessed, had come from one of them good Samaritan stores or from a retailer.

"Someone have a girlfriend, or a girl that they're trying to impress?" TazirVile asked the boys. "Found quite a lot of fem—"

"Last I heard, Bile and Lhaklar have a harem of ten—they've got three kids per woman; mom's got plenty of grand—"

"We went shopping for our mother." Bile cut Lazeer off; he glared at his younger brother for only a second before going towards the boxes. He started searching through the boxes right after reaching them.

He was fast in putting two-and-two together on who the feminine items were for; after Bile called Angel over, then started sifting through the first of the two bags that he had taken from the boxes, he deduced that the boys liked to treat their mother—this was good information to know. Why, whenever he went out to get a little something for Angel he might also take one or more of the boys with him—have it be an outing with a dual-purpose of his spending time with his sons while also looking to get a little spoiling gift for his wife.

Bile was steady during the removal of the items that were his from the boxes while Lazeer tip-toed around him; he took five bags from two of the boxes then he back-tracked to the side of the room that he had previously been standing at. Hazaar crawled over to the edge of the bed then reached over to the four boxes that were on the room's bench; he took the same amount of bags that Lazeer had taken from the boxes then he simply sat back on the bed. Lhaklar, surprisingly and interestingly, didn't come forward to claim anything from the boxes.

With the boxes now empty, TazirVile collected them; he made them shrink to a smaller size then he walked them over where the bigger box was. He was just putting the smaller boxes into the bigger box when the distribution of what was in the bags occurred.

It didn't take him long to figure out that it had just been Bile, Hazaar, and Lazeer who had done some shopping for their mother.

"My goodness!" Angel exclaimed after her sons started handing her things from the bags.

Lazeer had gotten his mother a lovely blue topaz and bead necklace—he was fast in noting that it'd drop to about two inches from her neck. His and his wife's youngest son had also bought her a bracelet that matched the necklace too; the sparkling rhinestone necklace, and the pair of seemingly matching earrings and bracelet, looked rather expensive as did the three-strand, silver plated, pink blossom rhinestone necklace that he also gave her. Lazeer ended his gift giving with a pair of shoes that had two-inch heels on them—they were a size seven, which would fit his mother well, and they had red sequins on them.

Hazaar had gotten his mother a dark cherry flap-bag that had a dark red leather strap, that was braided very well; the red-bead necklace, that was all knotted up in the center, looked rather cheap but Angel didn't seem to mind at all about its price. He had to ask to see the final item that Hazaar gave his mother—the final item was a pouch made for jewelry; it was red, and was flecked with gold sequins, and it had a black strap that tied around its top. He thought that this item was a good purchase for his wife—why, she could store the jewelry that she decided to remove from her person when she was out on the town in it.

Bile had gotten his mother some very fine things; the light brown suede dress, that had tassels coming down from the knee-high skirt, would look nice on the fine woman and so would the jewelry set—the set consisted of a necklace, that had fake gold coins hanging from it, a set of matching earrings, and a single, false-gold bracelet. The final item that Bile gave his mother was both pretty and a little on the tacky side—it was a ring. It was a dull, but quite glisteny, red color; the coiled snake design that was on the ring's band was covered in red and pink "diamonds" while the eyes of the serpent looked to have emerald-imitation gems in them.

"Man, I feel left out here." Lhaklar moped. "You guys got mom lots of stuff while I got her nothing."

Lhaklar's glum mood didn't last long; it looked like the "good Samaritan" vistation was very far fetched—from what the boys told him, they had neither visited one of them buildings or organizations nor had been planning to on the day that they had been removed from Earth. It looked like the boys were also very open to purchasing certain things for both themselves and for one another while out on the town as well; of the four, only Bile looked to of been fully concentrative on getting things for his mother—he didn't get any of his brothers anything during his time on the town.

Hazaar had really gone out of his way in getting something for nearly everyone; along with getting himself something he had also gotten Bile and Lhaklar a small gift. Bile received two magazines that were full of knife-related merchandise; an interesting item, that looked more brain than skull, was also given to him. Lhaklar was given one of them skeleton watches—while the clock part was very visible the inner workings of the watch could also be seen, which both he and his oldest born son thought was cool. Hazaar had purchased several magazines for himself; he took a keen interest in the one model that his son had gotten for himself—it looked like a model of one of them freaky hybrid animals; the head and neck was like that of an Eagle while the arms, body, and legs were definitely Tyrannosaur in orgin. The tail and wings looked to of been based off of what was known to be on a bat. The wording that was on the box said that the model was _the most fierce creature that had ever flown the skies; the Tyranaglat is the most fearsome of all flying animals._

Lazeer surprised his brother by giving him a model car; the box's image depicted a vehicle that, some two to three thousand years ago, use to be made by the Shofanusians—the Chei had been a fine car back in the day... by the time the humans had finally gotten their hands on it, it had been a dying out fad. The model was of what the humans called a Chevy Coupe Lowrider; Lhaklar thanked his brother for the model then claimed that the model was based off what had been made and then sold in 1939. Other than the 1939 Chevy Coupe model Lazeer had also gotten two, plane and boat-related magazines and two models—he took a very keen interest in these four items after hearing that his youngest son had purchased them for himself. Lazeer claimed that the model plane was of a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II; the other model that he had gotten for himself was of a three-headed dragon.

"Did you catch anything when you was at Medicine Bow National Forest?" Angel asked her son, who was busy in gazing at his new watch.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah—a bull deer, a turkey, and eleven fish." Lhaklar said after looking up from his watch. "Wanted to get one of the fish that I caught mounted."

"Mounted? Ma! Lhaklar just said that he wanted to rape one of the fish that he caught." Lazeer said loudly.

"What fish was it?" TazirVile asked his son.

"Th-the Bl-black bullhead c-c-catfish." Lhaklar stammered.

"You caught eleven fish but you only wanted one to be preserved?" TazirVile asked his son. "Describe to me this fish please—all of what you caught is in the smaller kitchen's freezer."

"I w-wasn't fi-fishing to... you know... keep any. The last fish w-was a su—"

"The boys do a lot of outdoor recreational activities—they do so to add something different to our diets and—"

"We love our mother's cooking!" Bile, Hazaar, and Lazeer sang.

"Right—they like it when I cook whatever they bring home." Angel said. "The fish that my son wants to get preserved has barbels near its mouth."

"I see. I can keep the fish that he caught fresh and frozen until you, and they, are more settled." TazirVile said. "In the mean time, I'll have the fish that he wants preserved done; it'll be waiting for him in his chamber."

"Thank you." Angel said for her son, who seemed to be having a time in controlling himself.

The events of what happened next happened very quickly; after telling his son that he'd keep the fish that he had caught fresh, and then that he'd get the one fish that he wanted to keep preserved for him, he noticed a sudden change in his color. Lhaklar went two shades of green lighter; he had no more gone from having mint green skin to very pale green skin when he ran off towards the room's bathroom—his hand was clamped over his mouth just before he reached the room that he was gearing for. Angel tore off in pursuit of him after he ran off.

TazirVile saw the event of his son getting sick as perfectly natural—at the time that the boys had been retrieved, and then removed from Earth, they had been smoking. None of them had had a single smoke in five days now, which, he fully thought and believed, was causing them to experience the withdrawal of nicotine. While he would much prefer to speak to the boys on their now-past smoking habits, and then having them quit while also being communicative with him, he was happy to know that they weren't smoking anymore—like with their driving, a child of their age should not be indulging in smoking.

Seeing things as they were—Lhaklar getting sick, and Angel having "abandoned" her other sons to tend him—he decided to get up and then vacate the room. When he left the room, he did something that he hadn't been doing these past five days—the door to the room was left half ajar. His sons weren't going anywhere, and neither was their mother; it was time to give his just returned family a little more freedom and it was also time to let the curious juices that he knew were in them become expressed.


	6. Chapter 6

"Master Tazir," Kohl Zolwin, a green-skinned Goblin who had warts on his cheeks, chin, and a single wart on his forehead, and who had solid black eyes, whispered after knocking on the door to his employer's office. It didn't take long for him to hear his employer calling for him to come in; he opened the door then he went into the room that he had been asked to go to by one of his co-workers.

"What is it, Kohl?" his employer, who had become a resident of the room three and a half hours ago, asked.

It didn't matter if the room was big, small, normal in size, or abnormally large—whenever he entered a room that his employer was in, he automatically knew where he was.

Despite his knowing where his employer was, he still gave his surroundings a quick checking. The room that was his employer's office was large and luxuriously detailed. The milk-white walls had purple roses on them; like with the hallways, there was a brown strip of wood placed at every six inch intervals. The carpet was a dark purple color while the ceiling was a soft purple color; there were hundreds of small circles in the ceiling—small, white light bulbs were in each circle.

The statue that was in the room's center had a flock of bats on it; some were flying while others were landing. The carved bats that were hanging upside down, or that were plain sitting, were few in number on the statue. While the statue had been carved out of stone there were plenty of living plants on it to give it a life-like feeling. The large bookshelf, that was built into the north-facing wall, had what looked to be thousands of books on it; a row of file cabinets were along the left-side wall—all sorts of non-filed files were on them.

His employer was seated on the room's right side—seeing as the man's desk was on that side of the room, and seeing as he only sat at his desk when he was doing paperwork, or something else of equal importance, this was quite normal. The desk that the man, who had employed him right out of Staffer's Academy, was sitting at was made out of pure granite stone; the chair that he was sitting in was a deep brown color. Not only was the chair leather but it also had a high back on it.

Sitting beside the desk was a cage; an albino bat, that had been in the room for as long as he could remember, was its occupant.

There was a couch off to the side of the desk; it was dark blue in color and it looked to of been made out of a velvety material. A set of chairs sat in front of the desk; they were a deep brown color and they had long backs on them.

His employer, regardless of being a Surfeit, and a member of one of the most prominent families in the M-51 Galaxy, didn't have anything on his desk that was odd or overly unique. The items that were on the desk were pretty basic: an antique brass banker office lamp, that had a green shade on it; a three-rack file, that was currently full of paper; a black, French style phone; a calculator; a Touchpad, complete with a pen that had a soft rubber top on it; and three framed photographs, that was what was on the desk.

The only thing that looked out of place on the desk was the black leather eye-glass case, which was currently sitting off to the desk's right side; this case was for his employer's goggled glasses—at the moment, the man's face was just as bare as could be thanks to his not wearing his glasses.

"Sir, Mr. Modulavich wished for me to give you this." Kohl said after reaching his employer's desk. The envelope that he was keeping in the pocket of his green-colored tuxedo was removed then placed on the desk. "He said that it's important, sir."

"Haven't heard anything from Homsi, or Eldass, in over a month." TazirVile said as he took the envelope from his desk. With the envelope in his possession, he turned his attention towards his wife and sons. "While you were on your way here did you hear anything from the room that my wife and sons are in?"

"Yessir—except for Young Master Lhaklar, all are walking around and talking among themselves." Kohl responded. "Seems to me that your oldest son is ill, sir. Your younger sons were saying something about their wanting to have some brushes."

"For their models—I'll collect and then bring them some in a few." despite the acknowledgement of the two younger boys needing some brushes, Kohl was able to detect that his employer was concerned for his firstborn son. "How ill did Lhaklar sound?"

"From what I heard, Mistress Angel says that he's running a slight fever." Kohl replied. "She was saying something about his condition revolving around his stress and his nervousness levels."

"Mhmmm, thank you Kohl." TazirVile held his hand up; he dismissed Kohl, who bowed then left the room.

Though concerned for his son he didn't think that it was his nerve and stress levels that were causing him to grow ill; while he didn't know how long the boy had been smoking, or when he had taken the habit up, he was sure that his oldest-born son's illness was coming from his lack of nicotine. His body was craving what had been put into it and, with it not getting any of it, it was throwing up a fuss and was making the one that was in possession of it grow sick.

With the knowledge of Lhaklar being ill fresh on his mind, TazirVile decided that the next time that he went into the room that his wife and sons were in he'd have more than a few paintbrushes on him—a heated blanket, that would keep his son warm if his illness caused him to grow chilled; some cool wraps, that could be placed either around his son's forehead or around his arms or legs; and some medicine that'd make his stomach not be so queasy would be on him as well. Since he was at it, he might as well grab a few jars of paint thinner, some newspapers, and either some glasses or mason jars for Hazaar and Lazeer too—that way they'd be able to do their models and not grow worried over the brushes becoming too stiff or paint-logged on them or about getting paint on the room's one bench or carpet.

With a plan in place on what he was to take to the boys, he opened the top drawer of his desk; a pair of latex gloves were removed from the one box that was in the drawer then the letter opener that was beside the box was picked up. The drawer was slid shut, then the gloves were donned, then the letter opener was pushed into the envelope.

He had nothing to fear from Homsi; not only was he the man's friend but he also trusted him—Homsi Modulavich was as gentle, and as safe, as a newborn baby. Still, though, the taking up and then donning of the gloves was a habit and a good one of his—it insured him that, if anything was on the envelopes that came in, or on the contents that were in the envelopes, it wouldn't get on him or cause him harm. He had started donning a pair of white latex gloves before opening the mail after his conquest of the Vaisha Galaxy occurred—who knew, maybe someone from one of his conquered realms had laced the envelope, or the papers that were in it, with a liquid chemical or a dust-like toxin with intention of taking him out so that their realm could go back to how it had been before he had set his sights on it and, who knew, maybe an enemy of his from an unassociated realm might have the same intention in mind to do in order to take him out so he, or she, could claim the glory of being his killer and then taking over the realms that he left behind.

He wasn't paranoid in doing this—the act of one who was a conqueror being taken out by a hidden toxin had happened more than once in the past. The former ruler of the Solol Galaxy—a Mojabah Corhdor—had been taken out by simply opening an envelope and then reading the contents that were in it; the current ruler of the Peilk Galaxy—a woman by the name of Slaajizah Zemsood—had been put in a coma after someone sneezed on her; and the current ruler of the Dioscuri Star System—a man by the name of Rheyfor Kudox—had lost his tongue, his entire left arm, and his penis after shaking hands with the son of the former rulers of the realm that he had just gotten through taking under his control.

He was a nice, decent man; he didn't conquer a planet and then go around, grabbing the women on that planet for a fear-enduced sex adventure and he didn't go around, saying that this or that member of a household had to die to prove that he was now the one in charge of the realm that he had just conquered. He was a nice, decent conqueror—one who left families intact, and who didn't slap down ridiculous laws, and one who didn't do over-taxing or put heavy regulations in on the way one lived. Regardless of his being nice and decent, he was still a conqueror—if the opportunity arose itself, certain people would jump just to get the title of being his killer. He had to be careful for not just himself but for his family too; he had to be careful of who he and his family were around, or who they hung around, and he had to be careful of what he and his family touched. Other than the possibility of toxins being present on certain paper items, or on the skin of one who was hoping to have close-hand experience with another who was very important, there was also the possibility of one having a hidden weapon on his person. He had just gotten his family back... he for damn sure didn't want to lose them and he for damn sure didn't want to lose his life either.

After the envelope was opened, he removed the contents, which was nothing more than a single sheet of paper; he read the words that were on the piece of paper slowly after noting what it was that was in the envelope.

 _Dear Master Tazir,_

 _It has been a full month and five days since I was sent home to recover from injuries sustained on Earth during the fight that I had with one of your Generals; I have heard no word from you and am beginning to wonder if your silence isn't your way of saying that my position of being an employee of yours has been discontinued. I do apologize for disobeying you on Earth but I was busy fighting more than one and was also concentrating on assisting your wife and sons during their unneeded and uncalled for altercation with the members that you picked to go with Mr. Trobrencus, his wife, and their oldest son—my attentions, sir, were and had to be solely on them two areas._

 _I've heard that Young Master Lazeer was discovered to be alive and well; I am thrilled to hear that—you and Mistress Angel have always been fine parents and have always looked forward to the growth of your family... as have I, your most loyal employee. Hope all is well with you and that you swiftly win the trust, hearts, and affections appropriate from your wife and sons. ~ Homsi M._

No word from him had been heard by the Modulaviches in over a month? How could that be—surely Homsi had gotten the check that he had sent to him for his work-related injuries; he had sent it, and Eldass's, in the mail on the day following the fight that had happened on Earth between his sons, Trobrencus and his family, and his hand-picked Goblin militants.

He remembered taking the checks out from his book and then signing them—both, he recalled, had been blue and both had been made out for $2,365—and he also remembered putting them in an envelope and then sending them off. Homsi and Eldass both should of gotten them long before now.

With the letter read, and the matter of the non-received check now known, he grabbed the touchpad that was on his desk; with the soft-point pen, he checked his account to see if the amount that had been on the two checks had been removed—to his amazement, the number that had been on the checks' upper left corners didn't show up and the amount that had been written on them was still in his account.

He wondered what had happened to the checks for only a second before reaching his hand into the slate gray jacket that went with the tuxedo that he was wearing; his cellular phone, which had been placed in the inside pocket of his jacket, was retrieved and then used. Either the two checks had been lost while en-route to his employees or someone had done the snatch and then run routine—after dialing Zshon Zultoa's work cellular number, he used the touchpad to void out both checks. No amount of money of his was about to be stolen and his bank accounts were not about to be preyed on.

After dialing the number to the cellular that belonged to the son of his second Most Trusted employee, and then voiding out the two checks, he waited; in all, it took five minutes for Zshon Zultoa to knock on his door and then be told to come in.

"Master Tazir, I do apologize for keeping you so long. What is it?" Zshon Zultoa, a green-skinned Goblin, who had yellow eyes, and a rather large nose on a face that had large warts on its cheeks, chin, and forehead, said after entering his office.

"Your father, has he received a compensation check from me recently?" TazirVile was fast in asking.

"No sir, just the normal stuff coming in the mail. No checks from you." Zshon replied.

With this knowledge now known to him, he stood then went towards the bottom right corner of his office; Zshon watched him as he went towards the room's hidden safe for only a second before looking away.

Even though he didn't know what his employer was up to he knew well that the man needed his privacy—with the exception of Mistress Angel, no one knew the combination that went to the safe that was hidden in the office. The safe that was in the man's office was hidden behind a large portrait, which depicted his employer, his wife, and all of their children—Master Tazir had had an artist draw and then paint the portrait about a hundred years after his wife's, and sons', disappearance occurred. He imagined that it was just the basic stuff that was contained in the safe—check stubs that had a pre-made number written on them; blank checks that were only to be used in the case of an emergency; important documents, like birth certificates, his Universal Pin Number, and his Universal Monetary Value papers; the scroll that declared him as Angel Irene's Universal Husband; and an untold amount of loose cash was what was probably in the safe.

This hidden safe had been the original money-holding place in the mansion; before the Vaisha Galaxy was conquered, his employer had just used the safe to keep his loose cash, and other valuable items, in. Even though there were ten vaults in the house, the safe was still being used.

His employer, after taking two checks out of the safe, closed the safe; he placed the portrait back over the safe then he returned to his desk. The silver and bronze fountain pen, that had been placed in his inside jacket pocket, was removed and then used right afer he sat down.

"I'm surprised that no word from your father on his not getting a compensation check was received," his employer said after signing, dating, and then adding the desired amount to the blank check's appropriate places. After the pen was clicked shut, the check was held out; he took it slowly. "Be sure to give your father my apologies on his check being so late—I wasn't aware of any discrepencies happening with the mail system in regards to what I sent him."

"Yessir, I'll make sure to tell him that." Zshon said as he pocketed the check.

"I added an extra three hundred to that—make sure that he and only he gets it." his employer said after the check was safely on his person.

"Yessir—other than mine, his will be the only hands to touch it." Zshon said.

"Good man," TazirVile stood up, then walked around his desk; he was well on his way to exiting his office when he said, "You're dismissed. Thank you for coming in on such short notice."

"My job, sir." Zshon bowed.

One didn't just hand off a check to anybody; while he trusted most in his service, and while he knew that some in his service could be trusted to make a personal delivery of a check of any amount to one of their co-workers, he wasn't about to run the chance of someone getting a big head in stealing something that had his valuable information on it. After making out a check for $2,665 for one of his injured employees, and then making out a similar check for the other, he had made the decision to make a trip down to where certain members of his staff lived—not only would this trip ensure that the check got to the one that it had been made out for but it'd also assure Mr. Modulavich that his position as being an employee of his was safe.

Unlike some, who employed a staff and then allowed only a small handful of that staff to reside in the part of their home that had been set-up for them, he had made appropriations for two hundred and fifty of the people who worked for him—the apartments weren't low, or "rinky-dink" by any means, and the utilities that went with them were paid by him, as were any and all repairs that were made known to him that occurred with the housings. Most would just give the member of their staff who had had the balls to ask for one of the staff-made apartments to be given to them a wave of the hand; that staff member would be forced to reside in a very small, one-room apartment and he, or she, would also be forced to foot the monthly bills and repairs that went towards that housing—his brother, he remembered, gave his staff just a small closet-apartment to live in. Kuruk would sometimes jack up the utilities—and just because he could too; the man figured that, since the employee apartments were on his property, he could do as he wished with them. He had lost many an employee because of his utility price jack-ups and, also, because of his strict treatment of them.

His employees had enough going on in looking after themselves and in working for him; as a way to thank them, he provided them with adequate housing and he also paid their given housing's utilities for them.

It took him just fifteen minutes to get down to the hallway that the Modulaviches lived on; once he was before the door to their apartment, he stretched his hand out then knocked. It didn't take long for the door to be opened or for him to be let in.

"Mr. Surfeit, it is very nice to see you this near-afternoon." Abara Modulavich said after closing the door behind him.

"Same to you, Mrs. Modulavich." TazirVile said. "Is your husband around? I'd like to see and speak with him?"

"Y—"

"Over here, sir."

At first glance, he thought that the man belonged more in a hospital than at home. Homsi was up and about, yes, but his movements were very slow and stiff and he was being extraordinarily careful of stepping near anything that had a sharp edge on it. When the man reached him, he was careful in shaking his hand—he was in good physical health while the Goblin was not; he could well hurt the man by simply shaking his hand too roughly or by making any quick movements.

"Master Tazir, it is very nice to see you after so long." Homsi said.

"Have you been to a doctor?" TazirVile asked.

"No sir," Homsi replied.

"He's "toughing" it out, Mr. Surfeit." Abara said. "My husband's given me the word that, as soon as he voices his want in going to a hospital, I'm to pick up the phone and then dial away."

"What're the extent of your injuries?" TazirVile asked Homsi.

"His sides—from his armpits to just before his hips—were very black on the morning following his return home. I suspect that he had some very badly broken ribs on him." Abara said before her husband could answer the question asked to him. "He's still in pain but his sides have gone from being black to a very dark chocolate color."

"I suggest that you go to a doctor and get a diagnosis on your injuries." TazirVile said to his employee.

The check, along with a personal apology over it being so late in getting to his employee, was given over; he made a few more worried observations, and he spoke to his employee on how important it was for him to see a doctor, then he turned to leave. He was just about to leave the apartment when the Modulavich children made an appearance.

Homsi and Abara had a total of five children; of them five, only three had been allowed to interact with his sons and with Eshal. While Eshal knew of Gizzeppli and Galiza, the Modulaviches twin toddlers, and while she had voiced her congratulations to them for the two's births, she had never seen them.

Arenzoar, the oldest son of Homsi and Abara, looked a good deal like his mother; the large, blue eyes that were in his face had, without a doubt, come from his father. Dlahsleon, the secondborn son to the Modulaviches, looked very much like his father—the dark purple skin had come from his mother while everything else shouted Homsi.

The two, older boys, who had paired up to play with Bile and Lhaklar when they had been kids, asked him a few questions about Bile and Lhaklar, and then about Hazaar and Lazeer, before running off to another part of the apartment. Their sister, Beaufi, who looked like a perfect combination of both of her parents, asked him a few questions about his sons, then a bunch of questions on when she'd be able to see and interact with Eshal again, then she ran off to, he presumed, the apartment's kitchen.

Beaufi and Eshal were good friends—when they had been kids, they had done a lot of tagging up to drive Bile and Lhaklar crazy. Either Beaufi would follow Lhaklar around or she'd jump on Bile in an attempt to bring him down to his knees so she and Eshal could both plant kisses on him; Beaufi had also done the "pucker-up" routine with Bile as well, which had done more than make him run off, yelling _Daddy, the girls are at it again in trying to give me cooties!_ The two had done the same with Lhaklar; they hadn't had the same result with him.

The kids were mainly asking him when they'd be able to see their old playmates again, and about how their old playmates were fairing after being returned to his mansion; after answering the questions presented to him, then watching the kids run off to another part of the apartment, then saying goodbye to the Modulaviches again, he left the apartment. He went straight up to the main portion of his house afterwards.


	7. Chapter 7

"M-m-m-mom..." Lhaklar shook violently; even though he had a heated blanket draped over his body, he was freezing.

"Shhh, baby." Angel said to her son. "Lie still and try to rest."

Bile gave his brother a gravely concerned look; the old man—his adoptive father—had brought a slew of things into the room several hours ago... just about all of what the man had brought in had been put to use.

The heated blanket, that had a temperature dial on a long cord on it, had been placed across Lhaklar's body; it had been removed periodically by the hour, one of the many cold wraps that the man had also brought in had taken its place afterwards. The orange drink, that the man had also brought in, which he had claimed would settle his brother's stomach, had been consumed in small increments—so far, it was doing as its description had said it would; Lhaklar, for the last three hours, hadn't done a bathroom visit to vomit.

More than "a few" paintbrushes, mason jars, jars of paint thinner, and newspaper pages had been brought in as well; Hazaar and Lazeer had gone to work in building their new models right after getting the items that they needed to build them with. Fifteen minutes after the paintbrushes, mason jars, paint thinners, and newspaper pages were brought in a small folding table was brought into the room—the old man, after seeing that Lazeer was having a time in putting his plane model together on the floor, had made the decision to provide him with a table so he'd have a better go in doing his model.

The armature of Hazaar's freaky model animal was all done; the clay was on it, and was around half-dry now. Hazaar had said something about wanting to wait until the clay was fully dry before going in to paint it—dad had said something around that being a good idea. For the last couple of hours, Hazaar had either been reading his magazines or had been watching the room's tv. For the most part, he had just grunted whenever the old man said anything to him; once every ten to fifteen minutes, he'd look up to see how Lhaklar was doing.

Lazeer's model plane was nearly, fully done; he claimed that it just needed another paint application before it was complete. The model of his three-headed dragon was around halfway complete—the question of whether ma would be so kind in transforming into her dragon form so he could see its vast colors and appendages and then attempt to apply them to his model had been asked; ma had said that she'd see about doing so in the next few days, after everyone and everything was calm and more settled. Like with Hazaar, he had read his magazines and then watched some of the room's tv after finishing his models.

With nothing—no models or anything, meaning—to do all he had done was sit and watch the room's tv, or read the magazines that Hazaar had gotten him, or just plain sit and worry about Lhaklar. Ma had mostly concerned herself with Lhaklar—she had either sat by him, speaking words of encouragement or comfort, or she had tended him when the need for doing so became present. The old man, other than bringing the material things into the room, and other than bringing them their lunch, and then a snack, and then supper and dessert, had done the same thing. Lhaklar had eaten nothing since breakfast; his stomach, and his mind and body, were just not allowing him to consume anything.

"It's the lack of nicotine that's caused him to become ill," the old man had said after coming in with all of what he had initially had in his arms, and after taking "a look" at Lhaklar. "Never should of started smoking son—it's a habit that only us grown-ups can handle."

While he hadn't said a word of his personal opinion to the man he had been thinking that it wasn't Lhaklar's sudden stop in smoking that had caused him to get sick—if that had happened then they'd all be sick. No, what was going on was very simple—the event of their being captured, and then being disciplined by the old man's belt, and then going on a several hour long trip through space, and then arrival to the mansion had caused them to experience a lot of stress. Of the four of them, Lhaklar had been the only one to succumb to his stress. While he was surprised over the fact that he and his two, younger brothers weren't experiencing a stress-related illness he was glad to know that they were healthy—he could just see it now if Hazaar or Lazeer had gotten sick... With the way they were now, the two would really be bouncing from the walls if the old man so much as came near them to see how they were doing.

After entering the room, then placing all that had been in his arms on the bench, the man who had taken him on as an adoptive son had gone over to see how Lhaklar was doing; he had checked his temperature, then he had "inspected" his color, before returning to the bench for the heated blanket. Swallow by tiny swallowful of the orange-looking drink, which the man had called Dislic, had been given to his brother next. Other than leaving to room to get lunch, and then supper, made up for them, and then to consume his own meal at them times, and then to bring them a snack between lunch and supper, and then to bring Lazeer his small folding table, the old man had remained by Lhaklar's side.

Bile glanced at the watch that, earlier that day, had been worn around Lhaklar's wrist; it was going on midnight and, from what he could tell, they were the only ones to still be awake. If he recalled correctly, the house would be powered down at around ten to ten-thirty; the staff would of been an hour to an hour and a half returned to their homes at the time that the mansion's main power was shut off. Back when he had been a kid, he and his brothers had been put to bed at around the time that the staff were all punching out to go home for the evening; his parents would normally go to bed an hour and a half to two hours after he, Eshal, and Lhaklar, and then, later on, Hazaar and Lazeer, were in bed and asleep.

The hallway outside of the room was dark; by way of the door being wide open, and by taking in the glow from the room's light catching against the carpet, he was able to note that the room that they were in was the only room on the level that's power was still on.

"A little over a hundred degrees," TazirVile said after taking the thermometer out from Lhaklar's mouth. "He'll be near to being back to himself in the morning."

"I h-have always h-hated them damn th-things." Lhaklar said of the thermometer. "Off...ensive."

"Takes after me," TazirVile nodded his head as he put the thermometer away. "Don't much like them myself."

"You hear that, Lhakie? You'll be feeling better in a couple of hours." Angel said to her son. "Try to get some sleep now."

Y-yes m-m-m-mom." Lhaklar said. He was slow but he managed to roll over to facing the foam siding of the bed on his own.

Lhaklar was one who snored lightly so, when he heard the faint snores coming from the bed, he knew that he was asleep; his adoptive father, after hearing the snores, grew rather alarmed, then surprised, in the face before standing and then starting towards the room's door. He said for them to get ready for bed then he left the room.

He was the first to get into the room's bed; Hazaar and Lazeer, after doing a near-silent groan over having to go to bed, followed behind him a minute to two minutes later. The blankets and sheets that were on the bed were gently "torn" up and then thrown over them then one of the bed's pillows was grabbed and then placed under their heads. Their mother was the one to turn the room's light off; while she didn't sleep on the bed she did sleep on the opposite side of the foam siding that Lhaklar was sleeping against.

It seemed that he had no more let his eyelids fall, and that he had uttered his first snore, before he was aroused.

"Hey!" Bile exclaimed in the lowest of whispers after a shadow was seen as crossing the room. "Who's—"

"Bile, hush!" Bile heard Lhaklar, who sounded just as healthy, and as strong, as ever, say.

"Lhaklar? What time is it? You feeling alright?"

"Feel like a million bucks," Lhaklar responded. "According to my watch, it's nearing eight."

"In the morning?" Bile asked both incredulously and stupidly.

"Yeah... think there's some Goblins up and about—not sure, but I've heard some shuffling going on outside the door." Lhaklar said. After saying this he commented, "I need a stretch."

"Do so in here then." Bile said.

"Outside the room," Lhaklar said.

Normally, it was he who made the overzealous decisions of adventure and exploration; hearing his brother, who was normally so against being overzealous in doing anything fun or exciting, was about to leave the room to explore some of the house made him feel like his position as the family's Risk Taker was in jeopardy.

Bile, after hearing what his brother was up to that morning, got up from the bed; after making sure that he hadn't woke anyone up by his hasty removal from the bed, then putting his socks, and then boots, on his feet, he went towards the small crack of light that had just become present in the room—Lhaklar had already left the room but he had left the door open just a tiny bit so that he would know where he was going. With it being as dark as it was in the room, he bet that he'd be making more than a little noise if not for that small crack of light being available to guide him to where he wanted to go. After leaving the room, he closed the door to ensure that his still sleeping family wouldn't be disturbed by anyone who was moving about the hallway.

"Except for a few differences in the decor, it's still the same." he said after taking in the level's hallway.

The old man had really decked the hallway out with bat-based decor—at every eight to ten inch intervals there was a gold, wall-art, bat that had ruby-painted eyes and silver-colored fingernails; a few photographs of various species of bats leaving either caves, or hollow tree trunks, or just flying around, consuming, or looking to consume, their insect diets were between each of the wall-art bats. Neither of them needed to ask if the old man was still into bats—if he wasn't then the hallway wouldn't have bat decor on it. The coo coo clock, that was at the far end of the hallway, was as black as can be; the weights were acorn-like in structure while the creepy, abandoned house, with its equally creepy trees, decor looked to still be in very good order. Both he and his brother remembered that, at every hour, when the time was tolled, a hologram image of flying bats would appear around the clock and a flying bat would shoot out from the little slot that was in one of the creepy trees.

Other than the bat decor, the hallway also had quite a lot of photographs of him and his family and of him, his brothers, and Eshal on it.

"I remember this one well," Lhaklar said. He was standing in front of a painting; he, as a three hundred and twenty year old, Bile, as a four hundred and twenty year old, Eshal, as a seven hundred and twenty-two year old, and their mother and father were all in it. "Pop had a hard time in keeping you still."

"Yeah, remember that as well." Bile said. He was looking at the photograph of him and his brother; they were standing next to their father. He had been four hundred and five years of age at the time of the photograph's taking. "Ma didn't much like the painted portraits, she liked having the photographs taken but the painted portraits—"

"She said that, even when a fast artist was at work, they took too long to make." Lhaklar nodded his head. "What'd it take... thirty minutes to an hour for a painted portrait to be completed?"

"About an hour, if I recall correctly." Bile said. "No moving, no bathroom visits... just sit or stand. Very boring."

"Dad was happy on this day," Lhaklar said. He was standing before a photograph of his father, who was holding a day-old Hazaar; their mother had still been in the nursery at the time and, in fact, she was present in the photograph's background. It looked like she was napping. "Remember how Hazaar was said to be a girl both before and when he was born?"

Bile chuckled; his parents, after Lhaklar was born, had been trying for four hundred years to not get pregnant—after the curse that his biological father put on his mother was removed his mother had taken a trip to Gamma Vile's most secure building for a couple of vials of his adoptive father's sperm. She had impregnated herself with the sperm then, two weeks later, she had been declared as being pregnant with baby number two—uh, number two for his adoptive father through her while baby number three for her in having a healthy baby in her.

His real father, who he either called Dark Dad or who he just didn't place a term to, had been furious after Hazaar's conception was made known; from what he and his brothers had been told, the man had grown infuriated, and then jealous, after Lhaklar was born and then, instead of getting over his expressed feelings and then feeling happy for their mother and father over the healthy delivery of a new baby, he had placed a curse on her that'd prevent her from having babies. Ma had seduced the man into removing the curse from her four hundred years after it was put on her—from what he had been told, the man had never forgiven her for doing that.

The man who had taken him on as an adopted son had, at first, been unsure about the new pregnancy—at the time that ma got pregnant with Hazaar he hadn't been at home; he, and Eshal, had been visiting his great-grandfather, Duru, and his wife, Cyla, at the time of Hazaar's conception. After a session in the house's medical chamber, where the pregnancy was noted, and then after dad questioned ma about how she had managed to get pregnant with him not being home to impregnate her, ma had disclosed how she had gotten pregnant with Hazaar. Several weeks later, after the pregnancy was noted, dad had gotten excited and had accidentally "knocked" the stick that he had been using to check on the vitals and physical growth of the unborn baby; the thought-to-be genitals had been exposed right after he did so. He had overheard his father apologizing for the slip up, and he had overheard him explaining what had happened to cause him to accidentally show what was in his mother's stomach; ma had said that she understood and then she had said that, since he had gone and exposed the gender of the baby, he might as well go on and confirm it. After ten minutes, the baby had been said to be a girl... Hazaar hadn't only been said to be a girl while in the womb but he had also been given the name of PhloowaVile Epa Surfeit.

Well... their gender assuming and naming of Hazaar had been done way incorrectly—Hazaar hadn't only been a full-on boy but dad's little "slip-up" had really only exposed the stomach area of his unborn brother. After being born, then placed on ma's stomach, one of the midwives had asked dad if he wanted to cut the cord; the man had said that he did then, after being handed the scissors, he had been told to do a re-checking on the baby's gender—Grampy Shaam, if he recalled correctly, had come over to ma's side and then noticed something that hadn't looked very girlie on Hazaar. Dad, after giving the scissors back, had checked and then done a wild cackle before declaring that the new baby wasn't a girl after all.

Eshal had wanted a sister pretty badly, Bile remembered that. She had spoken to the unborn baby, and had used all sorts of feminine or female-related terms with "her", and she had also said that she couldn't wait until "she" got to walking and talking good so "she" could join her in doing girlie things—Eshal had looked more than a little cheated over hearing that her new sister was a boy instead. His adoptive father, while actually wanting the baby to be a girl, had been thrilled in having another boy in his family; after he, and ma, got on Eshal for her question of whether Hazaar could be exchanged for a baby of the female gender the question of what the newborn would be named had been asked.

Ma had been the one to name Hazaar... after hearing Granpappy, as he and his mother called the man, say _Hoozah, thank the Gods! I have a new grandson!_ she had switched the O's for A's and then the H at the end with an R. She had said Hazaar right after doing so; his adoptive father had been the one to come up with the middle name of Tlair after the given name was in place. Hazaar, who had started out in life as being a PloowaVile Epa Surfeit, had ended up as being named HazaarVile Tlair Surfeit after his gender was noted.

"Yes, I remember. What say that, after Hazaar wakes up, we tease him a bit this morning? Say Good Morning Phloowa or something?" Bile suggested.

"Sure, I'm game," Lhaklar nodded his head.

After looking at the photographs, that were to either side of the door to the room that they had spent all of six mornings in, they went down the hallway; Bile was suddenly struck with the realization that the hallway that they were on was also where the old man's office, the Birthing and Nursery chamber, and the employee lounge were located. Though he couldn't remember their names he did remember stalk-following two Goblins down the hallway, and then into the employee lounge, a few times in his youth; he wondered if them two men were still working for his father and if they were still as nice as they had been when he had been younger. One of the men that he had stalked had been rather burly while the other had been right tall and lean; Lhaklar, he remembered, had taken a liking to one of the Most Trusted employees in their father's service—who that man was, and where he was, he didn't know. He was sure that the three's names would come to him in time.

It took them a minute or two to find the room that was the employee lounge; the door, they discovered, was half-ajar so they were able to look in and hear what was going on in the room. Keeping just as quiet as could be, they listened to what was being spoken about in the room right after approaching it.

"Master Tazir says that one of his sons grew ill last night," Eclaire Gozakaal, a brown-skinned Goblinette, who had short, gray hair and brown eyes, and who was wearing a gray dress that had an apron tied around the front, said. "Young Master Lhaklar, he said."

"From his not having anything to smoke for the past couple of days—his body is craving nicotine and is reacting to not getting any." Olok Gzujus, a blue-skinned Goblin who had warts on his cheeks, large brown eyes, and a crooked nose, said. "Feel for him, truly do."

"Master Tazir says that Young Masters Bile and Hazaar also smoked," Eclaire said. "They've not showed any symptoms of withdrawal yet but he says that he expects for them to any day now."

"Poor kids, I picked up drinking at a young age as well. When you're young its hard to both kick the habits that you've picked up and to deal with the symptoms of withdrawal too." Ulok Gzujus, Olok's twin brother, who looked exactly like his brother except for his nose, which was straight instead of crooked, said.

Like with the apartments that were located under the house the room that they were in was theirs... their employer had really looked out for them and they did try their best in keeping both their living spaces and the employee lounge in good order. Most people who worked for one who was loaded with cash wouldn't have an employee lounge, or nice things in that lounge to keep them happy by—they couldn't thank Master Tazir enough for this room or for the apartments that he had given them to live in.

The couch that he was sitting on was made of a dark green velor material while the ones that were placed to either side of the one that he was sitting on were made of a near-leather material that was a beet red color; the dark brown walnut coffee table, that sat between the three couches, housed the items appropriate for it. A small cabinet sat before the coffee table; a 30" tv was sitting on it and, on top of the tv, was a cable box. The remote to the tv was on the table; at the moment, the news was on but it was on mute—as of the last couple of days, they had either taken in the news via this room while the tv was on mute or while the volume was set to low.

There were several lounge chairs in the room; all were a dark green color, and had light green floral designs on them. The carpet in the room was a soft, dark green color while the walls were a lime green color; the ceiling above matched the walls. A bar, that a solid slab of stone acted as its counter-top space, was behind him; the counters that were behind the bar had a microwave, a coffee pot, and a blender on them. There was a small refrigerator on one of the counter-tops too. To the far right side of the bar, near the wall, sat a silver chrome water dispenser—nothing more than spring water was in it; a cup holder, that contained a thing of small plastic cups in it, was on the dispenser's side.

When it came to their lunch hour, they either took up space in the lounge or they went down to the smaller of the house's two kitchens—as long as they cleaned any messes that they made, and made sure to leave the room as it was when they came upon it, they were allowed to use it. If neither of them things were desired then they were also allowed to go home for lunch—Master Tazir had never said no on their doing so.

Other than him, there were a few others in the room; his twin brother, Olok, was busy in stashing his lunch in the room's refrigerator, Kohl Zolwin was reading the newspaper, Eclaire was just taking up space on one of the lounge chairs, and Zshon Zultoa was just standing around. Everyone else was working—in silence, of course; as they had been ordered to do a couple of days ago.

Due to Miss. Eshal placing trust on Mekaia Zultoa, and telling her all of what happened between Young Master Hazaar and his father yesterday, they all knew what went on in the room between father and son—Ulok wasn't much surprised about the given assault; with the kids all being so nervous, and with two of them going through one of them mid-teenage phases, he was expecting for two to three other events like that of what happened yesterday to happen more than once in the impeding months. Even though Miss. Zultoa had spilled the beans on what happened between father and son to her co-workers she hadn't said a thing to anyone outside of the house and, really, neither had anyone who she had spilled her trusted information out to—nothing on the news was being spoken about on this so he made this assumption on that alone.

"Mr. Rovnitov has his hands full with the Derby this upcoming year." Ulok said. "Normally, it's only four hundred entrees with twenty-two picked after gaining enough points in the races that're held in the six months before the Derby is done. There's two extra horses this year that have the same points as the last two that raced."

"Yeah, I heard about that. Alosod and Asromortor, they won their last race nose-to-nose." Eclaire replied. "I like Klobrik, though. Fast three year old."

"I disagree with you—Anzaika is the best of the lot this year." Olok said. "If I was Mr. Rovnitov, I'd not give any consideration towards Alosod and Asromortor—they lost two races before winning the Tuckett together."

"True, came in dead last in both of them races." Eclaire said.

"Reporters are still milling about behind the front fence and gate," Kohl said. "They just don't want to let up."

"Neither does our Master's family." Eclaire said, then sighed. "That Duru called twice—he left two very impolite messages, and so did Kuruk. Vile's number was blocked the other day."

"All wanting to know what's going on—Master Tazir is doing right by keeping them in the dark." Kohl said. "They didn't help any in looking for the Young Masters or Mistress Angel—Master Tazir stuck with his searching and look where it got him? He has his whole family in his home now."

"The Ubalki's—Ashaklar and Cheshire—also called. They called once, then left a nice, pleasant message, and they haven't called back since." Eclaire said. "I think they'll be the first ones to be called over in a few weeks."

"Sounds about right. They stuck with Master Tazir when it came to looking for—"

He and his brother decided to not continue eavesdropping on the hired help; he stepped away from the door, Lhaklar followed behind him.

While he was slightly upset over hearing that his biological father had been calling the house he was also glad to hear that the man's number was now blocked—he remembered all too well the man yelling for him to shut up after he was captured and then brought into the camp that was situated near Expedition Island... he had simply been yelling for help, and voicing his displeasure over being dragged around, and he had come back by yelling at him to shut up. His grandfather—his father's father—had done the same thing in yelling at him to shut up after seeing that he was caught.

After hearing the news on what was going on in the house, he decided to see if his old baby room was still up—at the time that his mother had taken him and his brothers from the planet it had been intact. Bile went down the hall silently; he walked past four doors before stopping before the one that belonged to his old baby chamber. Lhaklar walked past him; he went down the hall two further doors before stopping before the room that he had inhabited when he had been a baby. The two of them were reaching for the door knobs of both rooms when two of the employee lounge's occupants left the employee lounge; Ulok and Olok Gzujus watched as they went into the two rooms then they turned and went down the hall towards the staircase.

"Shit! It's exactly the same!" he thought after entering his old baby chamber.

He had to pinch himself—even though he had been told that his old rooms were still intact he had still expected to come into either an empty room or a room that had been given a drastic change in decor.

The dark mahogany crib, that had a soft mattress in it, and a hanger from which a few plush toy goats, sheep, and wolves were hanging on; the rocker, with its pillow seat and back; and the baby swing were all still in the room. The dark blue carpet, that was more than a little soft, and the multi-blue painted walls were the same; the ceiling looked more like a purple color now but he deduced that its coloration was just age showing. The light blue curtains, that were over the one window in the room; the circular rug, that was blue and white in color, and that had a series of tassels going along its outer edges; and the shelf that contained all of the toys that he had either played or slept with during his baby years were also still in the room.

The toy chest, which was blue, red, and purple in color, had some dust on it but it was also still in the room— when he went to open this item, he had to cringe; the hinges that were on the back squeaked rather noisily when the lid was pulled up. The dresser, which was a dark brown color, and quite abnormally shiny, was still across from the crib; the changing table, with its adjacent trash can, was still beside the dresser. All of the items that had been on the dresser—the baby monitor, the radio, the small, dark green clock that had a bear's head on it, and the lamp—were still where they had been when he had been moved from the room after reaching the age of two hundred and ten.

He looked at the contents that were in this room quickly—the memories just piled up, one on top of the other, without let up, which caused him to make his visit be a short one. After taking the room in, he left it then went down the hall. After reaching the room that Lhaklar had inhabited when he had been a baby he hesitated for all of a second before going in.

"This is sort of heart-warming," Lhaklar said after seeing his brother's shadow loom up beside his own. "Everything's the same."

"It's like you've never left the room," Bile said. "Mine still looks the same—everything's still in there... nothing's missing."

His adoptive father had treated him much like his own son—equally, and with the same amount of love that he had shown to Lhaklar, and, later on, Hazaar and Lazeer. Not once had he been given something less in value than what Lhaklar received, and not once had he been disregarded when Lhaklar was around. Though, at first, he had been referred as a simple stepson to the man he had, at four hundred years and six months of age, been adopted and then called a simple son by him—in regards to his own father, who, if he recalled correctly, had been on his back for nearly everything that he had done while being awake, TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit had treated him much like a real father would treat his actual blooded son.

The crib that was in the room was a dark brown color; it had an attached changing table, that had three drawers on it, on it. The baby swing was attached to the ceiling; the rocker was like the one that was in his old baby room. The carpet, walls, and ceiling were the same as the room that he had inhabited when he had been a baby; really, except for the crib, the only difference that was in the room was the decor. Lhaklar had been one for ducks back in his baby days—there were plush duck toys on the shelf that ran around the room, and the lamp that was on the dresser had a shade on it that had ducks on it. The dresser, which was right across from the crib, also had a clock on it that had nothing but ducks on it; the baby monitor, that was also on the dresser, was the same make and model as that of what was on the dresser in the other room.

The toy chest, that had all of Lhaklar's old baby toys in it, was still in the room and so was the light blue playmat, which still had a slew of stuffed and plastic toys on it.

Lhaklar, Bile noticed, had the plush, blue-colored duck, that he'd find himself sleeping with at night, in his hand. Lhaklar ran his finger over the face of the duck toy once before returning it to the crib's one pillow; after doing this, he turned around then looked at him.

"Let's get out of here before I start to cry." Lhaklar said. He left the room with Bile very nearly clipping his heels; this was sort of the reason to why he hadn't stayed around for long in his old baby room—the memories were good, yes, but they could be overbearing too.

After seeing that they were out of the room, and were leaving the one chamber that use to be the baby chamber to one of them, he was instantly reminded of the events that occurred on the day that most of his employer's family disappeared.

Mistress Angel had been a normal acting woman for most of that day; she had gotten up at the same time that her husband had, and she had done her usual routine like she normally would, then she had gone on to tend the children—something that she'd always do after getting out of the shower and then getting dressed for the day. Young Master Hazaar, who had only been a hundred years old at the time, had been allowed to sleep a little longer than his older brothers and sister; Young Master Lazeer, due to being so weak, and due to his mother's ever-increasing concerns for him, had been aroused from a sound sleep right after his mother got up from bed—he was checked, then fed, and then put back to bed. Breakfast had been made after all of that was squared away—the whole family, minus the two infants, of course, had attended the meal.

There had been a lot of paperwork on Master Tazir's desk, and he had been required to return a bunch of phone calls that had come in during the night hours; he had been busy for all of that morning and then most of that afternoon. Mistress Angel had used a needle and some thread on some of the clothes that she had found to be ripped of her family's after breakfast was consumed; she had just gotten through working on the needlepoint that she had started doing before Lazeer's conception was made known to her and her husband when the call from her father came in. A fierce fight had happened between the two right after the phone was lifted from its docking station—Kohl remembered hearing bits and pieces of it... the fact of his Mistress being so angry at the man, and of her slamming the phone down, was what he remembered the most. She had spent some time in the house's gym after getting that call then, after getting over her hysteria, she had gone upstairs to check on her two infants. Miss. Eshal had wanted to take a dip in the pool at around ten o'clock; Mistress Angel had dressed her for the occasion and then supervised as she did as she had wanted to do. Young Master Bile had wanted to go out to play in the mud and dirt about an hour before lunch was made and then eaten; Mistress Angel had watched him for all of twenty minutes before calling him in. Young Master Lhaklar had wanted a story read to him right after lunch was consumed; after taking a book down from the house's library, then placing her son on her lap, she had read him it. The two infants had been aroused and then brought downstairs at around 9:30; they had either interacted with their siblings or they had simply stared at their surroundings before going back to sleep.

The family had looked very normal and happy; no further calls from Vile had come in until one-thirty.

Mistress Angel had just gotten the dishes that she and her family had eaten their lunch off of squared away when the phone rang again; she had very barely beat one of his co-workers in answering the phone—if his co-worker had beat his Mistress to the phone the second fight of the day between her and her father might not of happened and she might not of run off with the boys. Mistress Angel had been on the phone for all of ten minutes before suddenly appearing in the living room; she had been all upset but no one had ever gone up to ask her what was wrong. Master Tazir had wandered into the living room ten to fifteen minutes later—her mood had all but been diminished at that time so he hadn't been able to note that she was upset. He had spent all of an hour to two hours with her, and their sons and daughter, before finding himself having to return to his office—thirty minutes had been spent in his office before he decided to spend the rest of the day with his family, who had all been voicing their displeasure in not seeing him for most of that day.

"She went into one of them silent modes after the third fight between her and her father occurred." Kohl thought as he watched the two boys go down the hall.

To that day, no one knew exactly what had happened. Two other phone calls had come through that afternoon; one had been from Kuruk, his employer's half-brother, while the other had been from his employer's stepfather, Cheshire Ubalki. Just before everyone sat down to supper, the phone had rang again; this time, instead of it being Kuruk or Mr. Ubalki, or someone else who gave a care to his Mistress's feelings, it had been his Mistress's father again.

During the interview that had taken place after it had been noted that his Mistress and her sons were all missing it had been discovered that Kuruk had been very kind and pleasant during his time in talking to Angel; Cheshire had also been kind and pleasant towards her. Both men had said that she had sounded fine; no hint of distress had been noted in her during the two mens' conversations with her and no word on the two fights that occurred between her and her father had been disclosed with them.

Mistress Angel had let one of the chefs cook supper that night; her family had all been in the dining room when the phone rang while she had been in one of the house's hallways.

The woman must of known that it was her father calling because she had back-tracked to a hallway that was a distance from her family; she had answered the phone and then, soon after, another fierce fight between her and her father happened. She had been noted as being upset after reaching the table but she had refused to disclose what it had been that had gotten her so upset—she had just eaten supper and then gone off to another part of the house. She and her sons, at some time during the night hours, after all of the house's lights were off, had disappeared sometime after everyone was asleep.

His employer had been happy for every bit of that six hundred years that his wife and sons had been with him; when it had been discovered that they were all gone that happiness had left him—a shell of what the man had formerly been had been in its place. He, along with everyone else, had said that it was bound to happen—that, due to his Mistress's history of becoming a bit unsettled from time to time, she'd up and run off again. He, and everyone else who had said, or thought of, the same thing, had changed his tune after the interviews were done; everyone had just gasped after learning the real reason to why she had up and left with the kids.

"Master Tazir was most freaked out after waking to find not only his wife missing but also his sons..." he thought as he turned around to go down the hallway.

The man had thrown a robe—mesh and silver, he remembered; it was his employer's favorite robe and the only one that he dared to wear and it was also the only one that he owned—around himself and then gone tearing around his mansion, yelling their names like crazy. About thirty minutes after this occurred he had arrived to the employee garage; he had no more punched his work card in before being approached by a man named Hozuun Nese—this man had taken him by the arm and then led him straight into the mansion and then into the dining room, where more than half of his co-workers had been at the time.

His first thought had been that Young Master Lazeer had passed away—he had been so weak, and frail, at the time so this had been a relatively easy assumption to make, along with the fact that everyone was being moved to the house's dining room to give the family some time to grieve in private. After discovering that Mistress Angel had disappeared with her sons he had done nothing more than hang his head; his inner laughing box had vibrated and he had more than wished to reach in to destroy it.

He was one who liked Mistress Angel a lot; she treated his employer, and his daughter, exceptionally well, and she had loved them... he had noticed this very quickly after the "final" retrieval from Earth was done. Along with treating the two well she had also treated everyone who worked for her husband well too—them two things alone had cemented his favoring her as a very valuable friend.

Mr. Surfeit had come into the dining room right after the last of his employees—a chef named Ulision Volvio—had been brought into the room; the interviews had started being done right after he entered the room.

"Only four of us knew that something was amiss with her."

And, of them four, only one had caught the conversation that had happened after Master Vile's final call was made.

After his name was called, and his turn to be interviewed was made present to him, he had wasted no time in spilling what he had overheard on the one call that had come in; Mistress Angel had said _you're not taking me from them, I won't let you,_ and _over my dead, lifeless corpse_ twice before hanging the phone up and then going off to the gym—while he had expressed his concern over her saying them things he, at the time that they had been said, hadn't thought about talking to her about what she had been talking to her father about. Master Tazir had taken all of what he had said down and then sent him on his way—the rest of his co-workers had been interviewed afterwards. Most had said that they had seen, or heard, nothing while one had come very clean on what he had overheard. The man's name was Flicakak Knuub; he had been a new recruit for his employer and he had also done a big no-no on taking the phone up to hear what their Mistress was so worked up about.

Flicakak Knuub, at the time that the final call from Master Vile came in, had been washing the exterior glass of one of the glass tanks that were in the hallway that had the fish tanks on it; after hearing someone yelling, and then the sound of someone slapping their hand against the wall, he had gone to where a vacant phone was. That action of Mr. Knuub's had been a big no-no for a good reason—unless it was ordered to be done no one was allowed, or was even suppose to think about eavesdropping on a telephone conversation; it was a privacy thing that they had both been taught to not do while at Staffer's Academy and that had been emphasized by their employer after the contract to work for him was signed.

Flicakak, after picking the phone up, had heard Master Tazir's nephew telling Mistress Angel that he would be teleporting to the house before she and his uncle, who he had called a wimp and an underling, woke up; that rank Vile had said that he'd be appearing in the center of the two's bedroom chamber sometime after they were asleep... he had also said that he'd grab Mistress Angel, then take her to his place, then force her into taking a potion that'd make her forget all about the six hundred years that she had spent with her Universal Husband. He had also said that, if any of her other children were in the room when he appeared in it he'd be sure to send them to see their makers as a way to ensure that her bond to them was fully severed. All of what the man had said had set off something within their Mistress; she was an excellent mother... she was a mother who wanted to be with her children and, with Young Master Lazeer being premature and so weak, she had also a stressed out mother. What her father had said about taking her away from her children had sparked a fear in her; instead of voicing this fear, or coming to the idea that he'd not be allowed to do any of what he had said he was going to do, she had grabbed her children, Lazeer included in the mix, and then gone away.

"Flicakak, after telling all of what he had overheard on the phone, spent all of two or three days as being an employee of Master Tazir's before sending a formal apology for not telling him what he had heard sooner and a resignation from his service. None of us have seen or heard a thing of him since."

He knew all too well what his employer had gone through and felt after they disappeared; in a few ways, he had experienced a similar event to what he went through when he had been a youngster.

His mother, Quosla Rapfod, had married a man by the name of Zaatuk Zolwin rather early on in her life; the man that she had married had been one of the original Generals in Mr. Surfeit's army and, in fact, he had experienced a few battles before being sent home—from what he had gathered from his mother, the man had sustained some sort of injury from the fighting that occurred on Caicla. His father had been bitter right from the start of the relationship but his mother, being the young thing that she was, had thought that she'd be able to turn that bitterness into untold happiness. Her attempts to turn a bitter man into a happy one had never been met with success; after marrying, his father had turned to alcoholism, and then to abusing the ones that he claimed to love. In total, he had three siblings—two sisters and a brother—and all of them had encountered issues with the old man almost from the moment that they had started walking real good.

His father, despite holding a grudge against the one who nixed him from his army, had had a desire for both he and his younger brother, Dultog, to go to Militant's Academy; while his attempts in getting him to go to the school had, initially, not been good he had had a better go in getting Dultog to go to the school—Dultog had been scared half to death of the man so, along with getting the near-constant threats from him of his going to the school, he had let his fear make the decision for him on what education he was to take after graduating from Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic. His mother, at the time that Dultog's threats were being received, and at the time that he had started to refuse the man's attempts in getting him to go to Militant's Academy, had come in to put a stop to the old man's attempts in making both he and Dultog become students at Militant's Academy; instead of listening to her, like any good husband did when his spouse was trying to make a point on what their offspring should and shouldn't do in or with their lives, his father had beat her to within an inch of her life. Zaatuk Zolwin, after beating his wife, had grabbed him and his siblings and than ran; he, and they, had been all over the news after this happened.

His father had taken him and his younger sisters to the third moon that orbited Moas—Woglof. Soon after getting there, then getting a place all set up for them, he had upped the anti on his abuse. Despite being four foot, four inches at the time, he had been forced into becoming a student at Militant's Academy; during his time in the school, his sisters had received punishment after unnecessary punishment from the man.

Zeekli's jaw had, at one time, been fused shut after a beating occurred; her jaw had just been wired shut when another beating was given, which caused her to be hospitalized for two weeks for brain damage. Kabie's treatment had been far worse that Zeekli's—at one time, her left arm and leg had been broken and, on another, her back had come close to being broken. The man that was half-responsible for their being in the Universe had also raped her—she had caught for him twice but she had lost both pregnancies due to both stress and from the near-constant abuse that she had been given. Kabie had finally had enough after one of the discs in her back was slipped out of line; after being beaten, then raped, she had slipped from the window of the motel that they had been staying in then she had gone straight to the police.

Their mother, during the ten years that this had been going on, had been putting every penny that she came upon into finding where they were; all sorts of private investigators had been looking for them but none of them had thought about turning their attention to Woglof. In the end, it had been Kabie, and her police report for paternal abuse and assault, that had gained their mother's, and the investigators', attentions.

Dultog had gone on to graduate from Militant's Academy while he had made the decision to drop out—the nightmare, as far as he was concerned, was over so there hadn't been any need in his going to a school that he didn't want to go to. His mother had been so happy after seeing him and his sisters; not only had there been a lot of crying going on but they had also been scooped clean off their feet. It had taken fifty years before everyone felt okay to both be normal and to leave the house again; after finally getting over the ordeal he had asked to be enrolled in Staffer's Academy—he had been on the first two slots of the top-earning students who had received better than fine grades on their rank cards. Along with taking several language courses he had also been on the school's Boxing and Wrestling teams.

While he liked to think that it was his grades that had attracted the man that he worked for it could well of also been the fact that he was the son of one of Mr. Surfeit's former Generals—Mr. Surfeit had shown up at around year ten of his post graduation from Staffer's Academy to see if he'd work for him.

"Mumsie was most unhappy when he showed up."

Instead of letting the man get out of his car, then come up to the door, his mother had taken a metal spatula, and a carton of eggs, to him. The man hadn't had a chance to leave his car; all of the eggs in the carton had been thrown at his car and the spatula had been used to put more than enough dents to the vehicle too. The man, and his nice and shiny, and relatively expensive, Model A had left the driveway hastily right after the spatula was used; TazirVile Surfeit had driven away, he had gotten his car washed and then waxed and then he had gotten all of the dents in it squared away before trying again in seeing him. On the second attempt to see him, he had managed to get out of his car and then up the sidewalk before his mother came at him—a gallon of milk had been thrown on him, then his mother had said for him to get his blue ass off of her property and to never come back; she had also said that she had seen one too many men go sour after being dismissed from his service and that she had no desire in seeing anymore of hers go down the path of her former husband's.

His mother had been doing exactly what Mistress Angel had done when she had disappeared with her sons—she had been going out to face TazirVile Surfeit only to protect her children. It had taken two more tries before the man was able to get into the house and then see him. His mother had been outside, doing laundry, while Kabie and Zeekli had been inside; it had been Kabie who had answered the door and then let him in.

Mr. Surfeit had apologized for what had happened, and for the mess that he had caused by dismissing his mother's husband, and for the trouble that it had caused them, then he had cut to the chase on why he was there. His mother had come under the suspicion that he was there to see Dultog—nope, he had come to talk to him.

The interview had taken place after the visit's interest was made known then the man had left; after getting the man's approval slip in the mail, he had taken around a week to a week and a half before saying yes to working for him. Due to his working for the man who had, unintentionally, destroyed his father, his mother had kicked him out of the house and then disowned him. He had been homeless for all of two days before his new employer approached him; the apartments that were located underneath the man's house had been spoken of, then one had been shown to him, then he had been given one to live in. He lived in apartment 106, which was just as spacious, and as nice, as could be. At the moment, the apartment housed him, his wife, and their one daughter—this was soon to change as Edanie was pregnant with number two now.

Soon after moving into the apartment, and then getting started in working for Master Tazir, he had met Ms. Edanie Thuim, who had been working for Mr. Surfeit for less than a year. He had fallen in love with her instantly; after their first date, the question had been popped and then they had gone down the aisle. He couldn't be happier with his life—in his eyes, his life felt just as complete as could be.

Kohl, after noting that two of his employer's sons were up and about on the second level, went down the hallway slowly and carefully; he was fast in sending a text to his co-workers, telling them that the boys were now exploring their new home, after he finished his descent of the staircase that ran around the foyer's right side.

"Holy shit!" Lhaklar exclaimed after entering the chamber that he had inhabited during his early kid years. "I feel like I'm—"

"—walking into the past." Bile finished for his brother.

After hearing that his old rooms were still around, and were still intact, he had told himself to doubt it—sixteen hundred years was a long time and, surely, the old man had had a need for the rooms that he and his siblings had used when they had previously lived here. Instead of having a confirmation on the rooms being gone he was finding himself having to pick his jaw up from the floor—they were still here and they were in the exact same order that they had been left in when either he and Bile were given another room to inhabit or when they left the mansion for Earth.

The floor of the room that he had just gotten through entering had dark blue carpet on it; the walls and ceiling were a light blue color, the light beam that was in the room's ceiling was a little dusty but that was understandable. The shelf that ran around the room had all of the models that his father had built for him—he remembered picking the models out and then standing by his father's shoulder, or elbow, while he did them. The bed, which had a frame that was reminiscent of the Mercury X2 to it, still had his old kiddie bed set on it; after going forward to see if the control on the bed's foot still worked, then seeing the headlights turn on, and then hearing a car horn be blasted, he came close to laughing. The toy that he'd always sleep with—Mr. Green Duck, as he had called it, who was lacking half of its beak, and who had had all of its stuffing replaced four times—was still sitting on the bed's one pillow; due to the memories that were coming up from their very dusty file cabinets, he came very close to picking the toy up and then cradling it.

The dark green dresser, that had antique handles on it, was still in the room; the 25" tv, that was on the dresser's surface, while looking rather old had not a speck of dust on it. The toy chest that was beside the dresser was still the same, as were the kites that "littered" the walls.

His father, he remembered, had started giving him an allowance of $5 a week right after he reached three hundred years of age; his lessons on the value of a dollar had started right then and there. About once every two weeks, he'd be taken to one of the towns that were close-by then he'd be told that he could spend only $5 of what he had on him—most of the time, it had been a model, or a toy, that he had purchased while, on other trips, he had just gotten candy. Dad had done the same allowance-giving, and town visitations once every two weeks, with Bile.

The kites that were pinned to the walls were really the only things that looked to have some age on them; he had started to collect these about fifty years before he and his brothers were relocated to Earth. He had had an interest in the kites that were weirdly shaped or designed—the octopus, the Warhol-looking kite, and the shark-looking kite were the ones that looked to have the most age on them. He had grown out of collecting, and liking, kites after reaching six hundred and twenty years of age—his already high interest in old-model cars had taken that interest's place.

"Race you to your old room?" Lhaklar said after he and his brother left the chamber that he use to use when he was a child.

"Isn't there a rule here that says no running in the house?" Bile asked.

"It's only a short ru... hey! Cheater!" Lhaklar shouted after Bile ran off down the hallway. He said no more to him; he ran after him.

It was a short run but, still, Bile had him bested—due to his body not yet being figured out, he wasn't allowed to get so much as a foot near his much faster brother, who had long since figured how to get his legs from being untangled.

As far as he knew, there was a rule of no running being allowed in the mansion—when he had been a kid, the act of running in the house had only been allowed when it was absolutely called for. The rule was present more for the house's many hall-placed items than for the kids that lived in it; in order for nothing to be broken, there was no running allowed to happen in the house. Bile, he remembered, had done a small bit of damage to a statue, that had been on the fourth level, once when he had been running down that level's hallway; even though the damage had been minor dad had still been mad over the act of his running in the halls. There had been no further running incidents in the house after the breaking of the statue occurred; even though he had stopped running in the house Bile had still gotten into plenty of trouble—dad had been one to let him and Bile be their age and, on certain occasions, Bile had taken that given privilege too far.

Bile, right after he caught to him, twisted the door knob of his old kiddie room; he pushed the door in then went in afterwards. He was half a step behind him.

"Deja Vu, man!" Bile exclaimed after flicking the light switch to the ON position.

"Even your old bears are still here!" Lhaklar said after walking around his brother, and then taking in the room's appearance.

The type of teddy bears that were pre-propped in certain fashions, and that were dressed in cool attire, had been what he had favored as a child—the two shelves that ran around his old kiddie room had nothing but his old bear collection on them.

He took in only a small handful of the bears that were in his old kiddie collection; there was the "gangsta" bear, who was wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt, and who had a pair of sunglasses over his eyes. The bear that had the heart-shaped tattoo on his left arm, which said MaMa in the center, was right beside the "gangsta" bear. The biker bear, that was wearing a black leather jacket, a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and black boots, was beside the bear that had a chain-like tattoo on its left breast—this bear was wearing a red and blue bandana around its head; the earring that was in its left ear, and the studded wrist bands that were on its wrists, were still in good shape. The silver-colored bear, that was standing up, and that had its arms crossed, had a skull and cross-bone bandanna around its head—this bear was beside the one that had the earring and wrist bands on it. He still found himself liking the bears that's faces were hideously disfigured or "bloody"—even as a child, he had been "cool".

There was his dresser; the lamp, that had a mostly skeletal teddy bear as its base, and a skull-designed shade on it, was still on its surface. The small, 25" tv was still mounted on the wall that the dresser was pushed up against; the alarm clock that he had used as a child was right below it.

The carpet was the same—dark blue, and shag in appearance. The walls and ceiling were the same—medium blue, with a single strip of dark brown wood placed at every six to eight inch intervals. The ceiling, which was the same color as the walls, still had a popcorn texture to it.

His toy chest, that had his trucks, action figures, and other toys in it, sat to the left of the bed. The bed that he had slept in when he had been living under the roof of the mansion as a child was what nearly made him start crying—yes, as odd as it seemed now, he, as a child, had slept on this monstrosity of a bed that was shaped like a bear. He remembered that he had loved the bed as a child—it had brown sheets, and a dark brown comforter, on it; a brown bear fur was all folded up on the bed's foot. There was a snarling bear on the headboard while the bed posts were all capped with bear paws, that had real-like claws on them.

He had dropped his interest in bears right after turning nine hundred years of age; knives, swords, and chrome-based items had taken that interest's place.

Bile, after looking at the still intact room that he had once owned and slept in as a child, turned then left the room; his brother followed him a few seconds later. Lhaklar was the one that flicked the switch on the wall to the OFF position; he was also the one that closed the room's door.

"What time is it?" Bile asked after regaining his composure.

"Uhhhh..." Lhaklar looked at the coo coo clock that was on the hallway's end. "Shit! It's close to being nine in the morning!"

"Ma, Hazaar, and Lazeer are probably already up." Bile said. He started to run down the hallway after saying this. "They're probably worried sick about us!"

The first thing that he had seen, after entering the room that his wife and sons had spent all of six mornings in, was that Hazaar and Lazeer looked nervous. His wife, who had been seated in the room's ottoman, hadn't looked but so concerned over the fact that two of their four sons were missing; after seeing that Bile and Lhaklar weren't in the room, then noting how calm Angel was, he had calmed down.

His morning had been pleasant; other than doing his usual after getting up he had made breakfast for his wife and sons and then taken it up to them. Lazeer, he had been told a few days ago, was allergic to nuts—nothing of what he had prepared for his family had contained nuts in it these past five days; he was more than glad for this... he neither wanted a scare on his hands over his son consuming something that he's allergic to or to be going to the hospital with one of his just-returned family who had eaten something that he had "laced" with an ingredient that they were allergic to. All of what he had made for the boys, and for his wife, had been placed on the room's bench; he had gone towards his wife after placing the tray on the bench—she had given him a look before smiling and then relinquishing the chair to him.

He, after taking the chair that she had relinquished to him, had touched her arm after seeing that she had remained at his side. She, in response, had sat on his lap—after getting over his shock, he had wrapped her up in a hug; his chin had been caressed before the kiss was given. The second given shock of the morning had made his already pleasant morning become even brighter.

He was very sure now that the old connection that had been present between them was still there; regardless of the years spent away from one another it was still there.

Lazeer had gotten himself something to eat first, then Hazaar had followed in his example in making himself a plate. TazirVile, without giving a second thought to what he was doing, tilted Angel's head up then kissed her. She returned the kiss; a small giggle escaped her before another was given.

Bile and Lhaklar, after entering the room, stopped in their tracks after seeing what their parents were doing.

"Maaaaaybe we should go back out for a few more minutes." Bile said. Angel, after hearing his voice, turned to look at him.

"Where have you two been?" Angel asked her two sons. "Woke up to seeing neither of you in the room."

"Did a little exploring," Lhaklar said. "Y'know... just looking around."

"How're you feeling, Lhaklar?" Angel asked her secondborn son. "Feel better?"

"Feel like a million bucks." Lhaklar reiterated what he had said earlier.

"Been checking out your old chambers, boys?" TazirVile asked as he leaned back in the chair. "Everything is as it was on the day that you five left. Not a thing is missing."

"Yes... looks like you two've been making up." Bile said.

"Mmmmm, y—"

"Making me sick is more like it!" Hazaar was fast in interrupting his father.


	8. Chapter 8

From the Moas _Proctoris Times_ , December 2, 4099 (Page 2)  
Still No Word From Surfeit Mansion

Questions abroad are still being asked a week after the return of Mr. Surfeit's previously missing family, consisting of his wife, Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit, and their four sons—Bile Vile, LhaklarVile Closhu Surfeit, HazaarVile Tlair Surfeit, and LazeerVile Zuluduz Surfeit—, occurred; while it's known that certain activities are going on in the residence owned by Mr. TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit no word on how everyone in the structure is or on what is going on inside it has been disclosed. All calls placed to the residence's landline have gone unanswered—instead of gaining a willing participant to speak with all one gets is the machine—and any and all attempts to speak with both staff of Mr. Surfeit's and Mr. Surfeit's family have been unsuccessful. While certain activities have been known to be happening in the residence neither the residence's owner or his daughter, EshalVile Eskara Surfeit, have been seen. That goes double for there being no sightings of the recently returned Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit and her sons.

"There's probably nothing going on in Mr. Surfeit's house," Kooduz Harec, a child and parent behaviorist, said after being asked about what he thought was going on with the family members that were recently returned to Moas and to Mr. Surfeit's home and life. "There will be a fear period experienced by the boys—they will be nervous of their surroundings for a short while before deciding to explore the place that they've been brought to. Their mother, who knows the place more than her sons do, will settle down faster than they and they will take their cues on that in calming down and in moving about more freely. Once everyone is calm, and more settled down, things will go back to being normal within the residence."

Mr. Gloar Rovnitov, the neighbor, good friend, and old school colleague of Mr. Surfeit's, has also not responded to questions pertaining to what's going on in the mansion owned and resided in by his friend and his family; his claim of being enthused with the Moas Derby has been validated by more than four sources. Mr. Rovnitov, who owns the track that the derby is run on, claims that the upcoming derby will be even more entertaining than the current year's—with the candidates for the upcoming race now putting in preparatory races, and gaining the necessary points that will gain them a spot in the derby, this does seem to be a fact.

A report from the Bula Galaxy, the most recently conquered galaxy by Mr. TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit, shows that Mr. Surfeit is still working normally; he is still collecting his monies and is still checking on certain governmental affairs. The same is said to be happening with Mr. Surfeit's other galaxies—the Vaisha and the Andromeda. At current, the most pressing question for all is what is going on in the mansion owned by the man and on how Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit, who disappeared sixteen hundred years ago with her four sons, is fairing and on how the four boys are settling into their new home and lifestyle.

The denizens of the Universe are waiting, and, it does seem, will continue to wait until some word is heard from the mansion; the throng of reporters, that appeared before the mansion owned by Mr. Surfeit on the night that he and his returned home, and that have grown over the week that Mr. Surfeit and his family have been returned home, haven't moved an inch from their post so, it is both presumed and hoped, something should come around in the answers department soon.

After reading the paper, then folding it so that it was closed, she tossed it over to her son, who had been eyeing it like a hungry bear for this past five minutes; Lhaklar, for as long as she could remember, was a fanatic for newspaper reading—she had taken it up from the bench that it had been placed on before he had had a chance to think about grabbing and then running off with it.

Tazir had done as she had requested of him to do in keeping the reporters away; thanks to the article that she had just gotten through reading, she knew that no one knew what was going on with her and hers. Regardless of knowing that her and her sons' living statuses weren't known she was still nervous—what happened after one of her sons decided to look out one of the house's windows? The mansion had a lot of windows on it; some were big, some were normal, some were octagonal while others were circular... if one of her sons decided to partake in looking out one of the house's windows would his picture be taken and then flashed all around the Universe or would he just be noted as being seen without being disturbed? What would happen after the opportunity came around for her sons to explore the exterior grounds of the property? The acreage that her husband's house sat on was right extreme—one hundred acres, that was either covered in artificial blue grass or that was taken up by rocky shoreline; except for the ocean and shoreline, which couldn't be fenced in, all of it was fenced in... would a reporter chance it in jumping the fence, or slipping through a portion of the land that wasn't fenced in? Would the reporter that decided to be brave by trespassing run over to disturb one of her sons, who was doing nothing more than exploring the area that he'd be allowed to frolic and play in, or would he or she just take pictures, or video, of what he, or she, was seeing from a distance? Would a reporter, who suddenly came in on a boat, come ashore and then rush forward to question one or more of her out and about sons or would her sons be left totally to themselves?

So many questions were being processed in her brain; she sighed after the one about the reporter coming in on a boat ran through her processor before leaning back. Bile and Lhaklar, over the last twelve hours, had left the room several times to explore the level that they were on; she had not once stopped them or given them a set time to return to the room. They, after returning, would speak of what they had seen then they'd either sit and watch tv or look at the walls—or, Lhaklar would; since Bile had the two magazines that Hazaar had gotten for him he had something to do between going out to explore the house's second level and then returning to the room.

Hazaar and Lazeer were still as nervous as could be; she had a feeling that it'd be a while before they settled down and stopped being so nervous. Lazeer's model plane was finished; after looking over the impressive job that he had done on it, then telling him that she was proud of him for how the model looked, she had found herself being asked, yet again, about whether she'd change into her dragon form so he could base some of his dragon model off of it. Lhaklar had been asked if he'd use his Telepathy on her to extract the memory of when she had last transformed into being a dragon; Lhaklar, though reluctant, had done so with no lip given. Lazeer's model dragon was also done—both it and the model plane had been removed from the room and then carted up to his chamber an hour to two hours after they were done; due to her son's models having been completed, and away from his ever-wondering gaze, he had nothing but magazine reading to do now. Hazaar's model Tyranaglat was also done; like with Lazeer's two models, it had been taken up to his given chamber. Even though he had his magazines to look at, and re-read, he was bored and had nothing to do.

The 1969 Chevrolet model that Lhaklar had gotten from Hazaar had never been opened; with Lhaklar being so busy in house exploration, he had forgotten all about it. Like with Hazaar's and Lazeer's models, his still-boxed car model had been taken up to his chamber—she was still wondering when he'd start asking where it had gone and if he could have it back so he could do it.

Tazir, that morning, after breakfast, and then the paper, had been given to them, had offered to take them up to the house's third level; he had obviously wanted to show the boys their rooms. The boys, quite surprisingly, had said no on the offer given to them—she had a feeling that they had been too enthused in breakfast to worry about what their given chambers looked like; with the way Tazir had looked after hearing the boys' response to his given offer, she had a feeling that he had something in the planning stages for that day. She, while nervous about what he might have in store for them that day, was curious about what was to happen that day.

It was eleven-thirty—close to being noon; she had a good mind to get to her feet and then tell her boys to follow her. A trip to the third level would be done, then the rooms that had been set-up for her sons would be tracked down and then shown to them before they'd come back to take up residency in the room that they had spent all of a week in—with her having a feeling that Tazir had something cooking upstairs that revolved around them rooms she just didn't have the heart to do so and, besides, she didn't know which chamber had been set-up for who. Tazir did but she didn't, which was another reason to what was keeping her in the room and this idea of hers in-check.

Even she was bored now; a week of being in the same room, just sitting and watching as her sons settled down, had caused the hours in the last four days to go by very slowly. Other than talking to Tazir, or giving him a small bit of affection, she had nothing to do; whenever she gave her husband any affection she made sure that it was small—Hazaar, she had noticed yesterday, didn't seem to like the idea of her or her husband being all affectionate with one another. For his sake, she was keeping the affection giving small and slight instead of giving it in large amounts.

She, as of the last week, had been getting her Mately Pains whenever Tazir was around—he could either be walking down, or up, the hallway, either on his way to the house's first level or on his way to his office or their bedroom chamber, or he could be standing by the room's door, getting ready to come in, or be walking into the room... she was getting them pains a lot lately and, as of the last three days, she had been purposely standing close to Tazir just to warrant a response from him. A simple touch by him did the trick in making her pains go away and he, either consciously or unconsciously, was fast in giving her her needed relief whenever she was close to him. It was going to take a while before she got use to the pains again—before leaving the mansion with her sons, she had been quite use to them.

"Hazaar, quit opening and closing your knife please." Angel said to her son, who wasn't only sitting behind her but who, for the last three hours, had been opening and then closing his pocketknife. Just hearing the click of the blade returning to the knife's handle was annoying and made her feel a little more nervous and stressed out.

"Yes momma." Hazaar said.

Any one person would get to feeling a bit stressed out by simply staying in one room for a week; while she loved her sons dearly she did feel like she needed to have a little space of her own to enjoy. With the way that day seemed to be going, and with Hazaar and Lazeer still being as nervous as could be, she doubted if that'd happen anytime soon—with Tazir being "allowed" to roam the house so freely, and with Bile and Lhaklar going around, exploring the house without a worry on their shoulders, she couldn't help but be a bit jealous of them.

Hazaar and Lazeer, while having stopped the routine of keeping their father at a distance, were still tip-toeing around him; if Tazir so much as cleared his throat, or made any form movement while they were walking by him, they'd either jump, stop, or high-tail it away from him. Lhaklar, though looking to be a bit more calm and settled, was still acting in a nervous way with the man while Bile was still acting a bit tense around him.

Even though she knew the house, and the people who either lived or worked in it, she still had a few fears to her that she wasn't able to get rid of. While she still loved her husband she feared that he might, both intentionally and unintentionally, hurt one of her sons and she also worried that he didn't understand them as much as she did.

Her oldest son, regardless of being two inches taller, and thirty-five pounds heavier, than the man, was still a boy; Lhaklar, regardless of being his father's exact height, but being forty-five pounds lighter than he was, was also still a boy and so were Hazaar and Lazeer, who were one to two inches shorter than the man and who also weighed less than he did. Bile, though knowing how to fight and when it was right to fight, and though looking to be able to hold himself up well with a grown man, might not be able to keep up the pace that Tazir set if any sort of physical altercation occurred between them; that went double for her other sons. Tazir had more than enough experience on his side; he knew well how to fight and he also knew well how to trick his opponents into thinking that he was bested or that the fight was over—her husband could well hurt her babies if a physical altercation occurred between them.

Bile was fast; he could get away from anything in the blink of an eye, and he was strong, intelligent, and sure-footed. Lhaklar, while being slow at first, would get to being fast and in the groove of either getting out of the way or getting involved in the thing that suddenly came up that required any sort of physical actions from him to be put into effect. Hazaar... well, it looked he liked to fight and it also looked like he liked fighting—she knew that if anything happened between Tazir and Bile, or Tazir and Lhaklar, Hazaar would become involved to both be included in the fight and to also help his brothers. Lazeer was strong, intelligent, powerful, and sure-footed, and he could well put in a bruiser of a fight, as well but he was handicapped by his photo sensitive eye, which would keep him out of a fight if said fight was happening in broad daylight.

She worried about all of them; while some of her concern was also being directed towards Tazir she was directing most of her concern towards her sons.

"Have to commend him, though. He's not been rushing things with the boys and he's been quite calm and controlled around them." she thought.

Before the landing in the underground hangar occurred, she had decided to not be but so distrusting towards her husband; she had decided to be a little distrustful of him but she had also told herself to be wary of him in accord to the boys, who had gone through so much in the hours that had happened between the apartment being discovered to be robbed and their arrival to Moas.

The act of her rushing into the room that was in her husband's ship, then seeing her sons all cowering near the bed or wall, crying their eyes out over being wrongly disciplined by Tazir, would forever be burned into her memory banks—Tazir had promised to never use a weapon on their children in a disciplinary way; his act of using a belt on three of her four sons had thrown that promise out the door, as had his placing Lazeer in the dungeon of his ship. That, and the act of their not knowing him anymore, coupled by their just getting through fighting him, was the reason to why they were all nervous around him.

Tazir had said that it had to be done... that, after they attacked him, and his Goblins, the disciplining with the belt had to be done as a way to "shape them up". If she had been the one to show up to the apartment first, or if she had shown up before the belt was used, she would of given him a royal kicking in the ass. In her mind, nothing of what happened on Earth seven days ago should of happened—Tazir should of been wise in approaching them normally, and then integrating himself among them slowly; instead, he had caused problems for them and he had also hurt certain members of her family.

While she still loved the man, she didn't fully trust him; if she had to make any guesses, her Trust Meter, at the moment, was set at a low five to five and a half. Her Universal Husband had a ways to go before having her full trust again.

"Hand it over," Angel said after the click of a knife being opened was heard again. She turned around then held her hand out for the knife. "I gave you a warning, Hazaar."

"That wasn't me, momma." Hazaar said. He held his hands out; his pocketknife was neither in them or was able to be seen.

"Baby?"

Of course, she had forgotten. Some of the doors in the house made clicking sounds after their knobs were turned. Except for the knob that was on the door of her and her husband's bedroom chamber, each and every door knob on the level was silver and embellished; as far as she could remember, the door knobs on the other levels were the same as the ones on this one—unless the room that they went to had a purpose, and a good one, they were all silver and embellished.

After turning to take in her husband, who had since entered the room, she apologized to her son for accusing him of something that he hadn't done; with that done, she went to him. Hazaar, who was sitting on the chair that had the ottoman before it, moved to the ottoman after feeling her fingers poking and prodding at the matted up, and very greasy, tail of hair that he had on his head; she was fast in taking the chair and in going to work in working the many knots and tangles out from his hair.

In the week that they had been residents of the room not once had they been given any extra clothing articles, or items to keep themselves clean with, or things that they could use to keep themselves well-groomed with; Tazir had mostly concerned himself with bringing them their meals, or their snacks, and nothing el—

"That's not fair and you know it." her conscious told her. "He was taking things slow and he was also keeping his involvements with you and the boys simple. If you had asked him to bring you and your sons some extra clothes, or some shampoo and soap, he would of done so with no lip given. Quit beating up on the man for his simple, slow actions of trying to do an integration with you and your sons."

She forced herself to calm down and to think rationally; to do both was a good thing but to also be careful in her tending of her son's hair was also important. Due to the phase that her son was going through he was especially touchy whenever anyone touched or messed with his hair. She neither wanted to pull his hair, or pull any out from his head, or cause any damage to occur to it. Hazaar was silent the entire time that she was busy in taking the knots and tangles out from his hair; when she was done, she kissed the side of his head then sent him on his way. He thanked her before going off to where the room's bed was.

"Angel, if you and the boys will please follow me." TazirVile said. Angel, he had noted, had gone through a change in demeanor; yesterday, she had been a bit playful and affectionate while, that early morning, she had been a little stressed out. It looked like she was a lot more stressed out now. When Angel went to tend their son's hair, he had figured that a small reprieve in what he wanted to do that near-afternoon could wait—the chambers weren't going anywhere and there was no time restriction on when he showed the boys their chambers. "I'd like for the boys to see their chambers."

"Ma—"

"Sure, but, just so you know, I'll be staying on the third level with them." Angel said as she stood up from the chair.

A week was long enough; he really wanted the boys, and his wife, out of the room and then experiencing a more normal, natural lifestyle than what they had gone through that past week. A normal, natural life would assist in getting their nervous little selves to be less nervous and it would also help them in settling down more—and it would also help him, who had gone through a solid week of hell in experiencing nightly emissions and too good dreams. It was time to get the ball moving on actually having the boys become a real part of his and Eshal's lives and it was also time for him and his wife to start acting like husband and wife.

At first, he had been able to handle the emissions and the dreams; as of the last three days, both had been happening too often and too extremely. The fact of his not being able to remember all of what he had dreamed of was just as annoying as his having to cart his bedding down to the laundry room for cleaning each morning—he remembered Angel speaking to him, and undressing herself, and he also remembered her getting into the bigger of the two pools that were in his house, but he couldn't remember anything more of what happened after she was in the pool. Seeing them curves of hers, and them breasts, which were in the 40C-cup range, and that fiery red hair, that had done more than light the entire room that his pool was in, in his dreams was torturing while knowing that he had her in his house, and that he could get to her, was even more torturing—for his sanity, and for his family, it was time to get things rolling forward in how their lives were suppose to be.

While true, he did want them out of the room, he didn't just want them to be out of the room so he could get and then have at his wife; Angel would be allowed to stay upstairs, on the third level, with the boys until it was time for them to all go to bed then she'd be coming down to the second level to be with him—he wouldn't force her into sleeping with him but he would prefer for her to sleep in the same bed as he and he'd also prefer for her to be close to him. The act of their being in the same bed, and sleeping together, would cancel out them annoying nightly emissions and dreams and it'd also give her, who he was sure was also going through her own demons, some relief too.

"Getting them out of the room would also drop their stress levels—I neither want them to be nervous or stressed out while being here, so this move to the third level is a better than grand one." he thought as his family lined up behind him then followed him from the room.

After leading his family from the room, then making a turn to go down the hallway, then going down the hallway a ways, he found himself as having to stop; one of his younger sons had put the brakes on to look at one of the photographs that were on the hallway walls. He neither grumbled nor said for them to keep following him—this was his sons' home too... they had a right in looking at anything that was on the walls.

"I sure didn't have much hair back then," Hazaar said.

"It was there, just barely though." Angel said to her son. "At that age, it was about a quarter of an inch long."

TazirVile smiled—his secondborn son had, indeed, been born with a very short tail of hair. Though being the same color as it was now it had been much shorter. His son, during the sixteen hundred years that he had been on Earth, with his mother and brothers, had grown it out; not only was it four and a quarter inches long but it was quite full.

His father, he recalled, had wanted him to shave his son's tail of hair off; at just two days of age, the man had approached him and then "discussed" with him about the tail of hair that the boy had been born as having and about how "ridiculous" it both made him look now and on how it'd make him look later on in life. All of what his father had said hadn't been taken to full heart; the hair that his secondborn son had been born with was still on his head and was still intact and it would remain that way—or, unless his son decided to lop it off on his own.

He had a feeling that his son would be pleased with how the adjacent bathroom to his bedroom chamber was arranged—during his time in the apartment that his family had previously been living in he had felt an anomaly under the floor of the downstairs bathroom; Kalach Speelin had been the one to get the order to tear the floor in the bathroom up and to remove all that he found under it. Three boxes, containing a vast assortment of beads, feathers, hair color dyes, ribbons, hair-use rubber bands, and other hair-care items, had been found; all had been taken from the floor and then sent here and then set-up in the bathroom of the room that his son was to inhabit. It had been an automatic thing for him to think of the items that had been found in the floor belonging to Hazaar—his secondborn son was the only male child of his to have hair long enough to accommodate such items.

While the basic room set-up had been done by a maid in his service he had been the one to get the hair-care items set up to, what he hoped and believed, meet his son's qualifications—Mekaia Zultoa, the daughter of Eldass Zultoa, was the one accredited to how the basic room decor and arrangement was.

"Remember that old episode of The Fairly Odd Parents where Timmy Turner's Godparent, Cosmo, looked at photographs of Timmy wearing dresses?" Bile asked Hazaar after the trek to the stairwell that'd take them to the house's third level was resumed.

"Yeah—his parents wanted a girl... they said that they'd be crushed if the baby was born as being a boy." Hazaar replied.

"That's what ma and pop did with you," Bile said. "With you coming out as being a boy instead of a girl, they decided to dress you up as a girl and then try to pass you offer as being a girl instead of a boy."

"That's why mom calls you Hazie." Lhaklar said.

"Shut up you wet ends!" Hazaar snapped. Lazeer, who was in front of Hazaar, stopped suddenly; his brother walked right into him. "Hey! You have feet—use them!"

Angel gave her son a tap on the elbow then went to Lazeer, who was looking at a photograph that she really wished wasn't on the wall of the hallway—while she understood that Tazir might not of had very many photographs of their youngest son to frame she still wished that the photograph that was on the wall wasn't on the wall.

Lazeer, in the photograph, was around three or four hours old; his tiny baby self was wearing a small, blue cap and the smallest of diapers—which still looked much too big for his near-five inch long body. A piece of near-clear tape was holding two tubes, which were going into her then-infant son's nose, in place; her son's coloration wasn't good and his eyes were shut. The doctors had simply put the tubes into her son's various orifices and then plopped him in the pod; no blanket, or any other items with which he could use to keep warm with, had been given to him. Both she and Tazir had been furious over how uncaring the ones who had been given the chore to look after their preemie baby—Tazir, she remembered, had had it out with the doctor's in charge of their son's care more than once in the three and a half weeks that he had been in the hospital.

The photograph that was beside that one was a much more appropriate one; her son, who was four months of age, was much healthier—she guessed that this was one of the reasons to why the pod-picture was on the wall... Tazir had wanted to show to the ones that walked this hallway that their youngest son had survived past the odds that had been placed on him.

The four-month old Lazeer depicted in the photograph was in his crib; he was on his side, so the faint horizontal red line, that ran around the sides and back of his head, could be seen. The hair that her son currently had hadn't grown in until he had reached six months of age—even at that age, it had barely been able to be seen. The then-infant Lazeer in the photograph had his eyes open—barely though; he looked so tired to her, which was heart-wrenching to her. At the start of her son's life outside of the womb, he had weighed nearly two pounds and had been nearly five inches long; at the time that she and her sons left Moas for Earth, he had been ten inches from head to foot and had weighed somewhere around nine pounds—still small, and still weak, but, most importantly, still alive. She still believed that her action of leaving Moas for Earth was correctly done—she might just be lacking one of her sons if not for that action being done.

"You was a very early arrival," Angel said to her son. "You came out when I was twenty-two weeks along in my pregnancy."

"Had a fight with them blasted doctors," TazirVile said. "We wanted to give it a try with the pod while they didn't."

"Your daddy put a lot of money into the hospital just to keep you going for the three and a half weeks that you were in it," Angel placed her hands on Lazeer's shoulders. "They had no faith in you surviving, we did."

"And, by that, here you are." TazirVile said. "I was never one who liked hospitals—they like to be fast. Get you in, work on you, then get you out. I had to throw more than two threats of suing them if they didn't continue with your care after week one—I actually did file a lawsuit on them after you was released."

"It was ma, and her constant care of you, that caused you to survive past both the two days that they placed on your survival after you was released from the hospital and after we appeared on Earth." Bile said. "After we got to Earth, she'd not allow herself to put you down—"

"—much less leave you for a minute." Lhaklar finished for his brother. "After fifty years passed, she calmed down... she just took a deep breath then started leaving you alone for short periods of time. She did the same with Hazaar."

"She had you, and Hazaar, at her breast all the time... she was constantly eating and drinking to keep the milk flowing for you two." Bile went on. "If she allowed another to hold you, or Hazaar, so she could tend me or Lhaklar she'd have her eye glued to that person. If the one that was holding one or the other of you started moving away from her—

"—she'd go 'where are you going with my baby! Bring him back this instant'." Lhaklar finished.

Finding out by word of mouth the doing's of his wife during her time on Earth was just as good as his coming across her work résumé, which had been found in one of the back-rooms of the Green River, Wyoming Food Lion a week ago—going by what Bile and Lhaklar had just said, it was quite apparent that she had continued with her stressful mothering of their two, younger sons. He listened for a while as his two, older sons spoke of how Angel had worried herself to a frazzle over Hazaar and Lazeer and he also listened to how she had also tried her best to divide her time equally between her two infants and the two children who had been both walking and talking by the time the move to Earth was made.

Thanks to his wife's résumé, he knew quite a lot of where the family had lived and what some of his wife's daily life consisted of. Between 2499 and 2712, he knew nothing of what Angel and the boys had done with their lives; Angel and the boys had taken up residency in a place called Okarche, Kingfisher County, Oklahoma for a little under a year before moving up to the northern region of the North American continent—they had lived in various locations in Canada between January 3, 2713 and June 4, 3779. The happenings that occurred between June 4, 3779 and July 17, 4084 with his wife and sons weren't known; there were a few gaps in her résumé that gave him both the curious bug and a small spook. Along with having many, normal, peasant jobs his wife had also taken on several movie-making jobs—the boys' educations had been paid by the act of her becoming a "Special Effects" person in the movie business.

What had happened during the periods that weren't listed on her résumé? Taking from what Bile and Lhaklar had just blindly made known to him, he now knew that she had been around others before the job at Max's Shoes was taken on—she had had help in keeping up with the boys. Who had helped her; surely, all of the friends that she had known from when Bile and Lhaklar had been babies had already perished—unlike her, they weren't immortal like she and their children were. Sixteen hundred years was a long time; had she been faithful to him by not having sex with anyone or had she given in to her need?

The questions that he both wanted an answer to and that he didn't want an answer to jumped around in his brain after he resumed the trek to the stairwell that wound up to the house's third level; they were still bogging him down after he started his ascent up the stairwell. By the time he reached the house's third level, he was haunted by the unknown answers to his questions. Since he was at the head of the line, he squinted, then made a few faces—he forced himself to return to normal and to get a grip on himself. The answers, he told himself, would come in time—while nervous over what the answers to his many questions were he told himself to have faith and confidence in his wife.

He had just gotten through telling himself this when he stopped before a door, that was as black as night, and that had a seemingly black metal frame to it, that was really wood that had been given a very fine paint job. He turned after stopping before this door, then looked at the boys, then reached forward; the amethyst door knob was grasped and then twisted then the door was pushed in.

"Hazaar, this one's yours." TazirVile said. He gave his son a simple look before stepping back; the happenings of what happened next were totally on his son's shoulders. Hazaar, alone, was the one to make the decision on going in and in checking the room out.

Angel, after ten seconds passed with no movements from her son being noticed, told Lazeer to remain where he was; she walked by her husband then went into the room, Hazaar was behind her by nearly two steps.

Hazaar, after entering the room, stopped on a dime; his eyes went wide right after he saw what the room looked like.

A series of shelves, from which a train track was positioned on, ran around the room; an old, antique-looking, train was sitting at the start of the track, it looked like it had somewhere around four cars on it. To the left of the room, stationed underneath one of the shelves that contained a section of train track, were a few more shelves; the spaceship and train models that he had done in the past were on them. In the bottom right corner was a corner desk and chair; the shelves that were above the desk had bottles of paint, paint thinner, paintbrushes, napkins, and containers of model glue on them. The second car to the model train that he had purchased a few weeks ago was on the desk's surface—not only did it look rather comfortable on the piece of furniture but it also almost looked like there was a little sign above it that said _Build Me Hazaar_.

A tall bookcase, that all of his books and magazines were on, was to the right of the room; it looked like the room's walk-in closet was beside it. A dark gray dresser was on the other side of the open space that he thought was the closet; his cast iron steam engine train clock was on its surface. Above the dresser, mounted on the wall, was a 40" screen—which he guessed was the room's tv.

The bed that was in the room was much like that of what he had once owned and slept on while being on Earth; the only thing that was different about the two was the bedding—a steam engine, that had smoke coming out from the smokestack, was depicted on the comforter. The two pillows that were on the bed were in plain, simple, pillow cases that were a striped gray and white color. The bedside table that was beside the bed was as black as could be; along with his newly done Tyranaglat model, and, for some odd reason, a bulky remote control, it had a black metal lamp, that had a twist basket base on it, on it—while glad to know that his model was in the room he wasn't but so glad over the lamp that was on the table. The lamp, to him, didn't match him or his style—but, seeing as a sense of common decency was needed to be shown, he swallowed this fact; he accepted the lamp.

The room had a dark purple carpet in it; the walls and ceiling were a little lighter shade of purple. The two windows, that were placed on the wall that was clear across from him, had dark purple drapes on their stationed curtain rod—he wasn't but so surprised over seeing that the drapes were closed.

After taking all of this in, then taking two steps forward, he stopped; by the Gods, it looked like he also had a walk-in bathroom! No more having to fuss or wait for the bathroom to become vacant for him—all he'd have to do in the morning was wake up then go straight to the bathroom that was adjacent his bedroom.

"Like I said earlier, I'll be on this level with you four for a while—I'm not going anywhere so, if you need me, give me a yell. Okay?"

"Okay, momma." Hazaar said.

The hallway that was on the house's third level had torches on it; the carpet was a striped, blue, black, and white color while the walls and ceiling were a dark gray color. If she recalled correctly, both she and her grandmother, Irka Shaiden, had dusted and then re-dusted the various statues that were on the level when they were both nearing the end of their pregnancies—she with Lhaklar and her grandmother with Baruk. The ceiling had a milky-white bar running down its center; despite the presence of the torches the hall was relatively well lit by the light that emitted from the bar.

Tazir wasn't like his brother, father, or grandfather—or her father, for that matter. As far as she could remember, her father had a very Gothic style to him while his grandfather's Gothic style was a little less pronounced; her grandfather, KurukVile Shonsinu Surfeit, had a more medieval style to himself. She couldn't remember what her great-great grandfather's style was—while it wasn't medieval it wasn't full-on Goth either. Tazir, in regards to the four men, had a more modern style to himself—though having some Gothic qualities to his style he was mostly modern.

When she left the room that had just been noted as being Hazaar's, she noticed that her husband was a bit off—to her, he looked both nervous and in a hurry. After leaving the room, then saying that her son was doing as any other boy would after being given a room that was to be all his and no one else's, she followed her husband as he resumed the task of taking her and her children down the hall. Tazir took her and her remaining three sons past two doors before stopping; the door that he turned towards was a dark gray color. It had a glass-shatter design painted on it; the knob that was on it was black and as shiny as could be. Tazir, after turning to look at the door, grabbed the door knob; he twisted it then he pushed the door in. He then stepped back.

"Bile, this one's yours." TazirVile said.

Bile gave her a look, then winked one of his eyes, then went into the room; she took his easy-going entrance of his bedroom chamber as a sign for her to go on in following her husband down the hall. Instead of following behind her husband she stepped up beside him; the vibe that she had gotten from him earlier had, for some reason, gotten worse—not only did he not turn to look at her, or smile or acknowledge her after she appeared at his side, but he remained just as cold and as distant towards her as could be. She shrugged her shoulders after feeling this new vibe of his then dropped back to following him from behind; Lazeer, the second she was back to following his father from behind, grabbed her hand.

TazirVile went by two more rooms quietly; he said not a word to her, or to her two remaining sons, or to anyone that they passed while on the way down the hallway. When he finally did stop, he did so after reaching a mahogany door that had a rustic feel and appearance to it. After stopping before the door, he gave his shoulders a shake then reached forward; his hand had no more been placed around the door's silver, copper, and bronze flecked knob before it was twisted. Like with before, the door was pushed in after the knob was turned.

Lhaklar didn't need to be told that the room was his—he could see the model cars that he had completed over the years on the shelves. Lhaklar went by his father silently; while he entered the room normally he kept his eye on his father the entire time that he went by him. With her secondborn son now checking out his room, and with herself having just a cold and distant husband and her lastborn son to worry about, Angel turned to the final task at hand—which was to, once again, follow Tazir as he led them to the final chamber that had yet to be given out.

Lhaklar had no more entered his chamber before his father turned then started back up the hallway again; Angel and her final-born son followed behind him like silent ghosts. They went by another door before stopping—the door that Tazir had stopped before was made out of solid oak; it had a very modern design to it that just screamed Tazir. The knob that went with the door was square in shape and was white-gold in color; TazirVile, after stopping at the door, grabbed the knob then twisted it. He exposed the room's interior after pushing the door in.

"Come on," Angel mumbled to her son as she went towards the room. Lazeer followed behind her at a snail's pace for just a second before quickening his pace.

The first thing that he saw, after entering the room that was all his, was that the floor had a dark red carpet on it; the walls and ceiling were a medium-red color, which, he thought, contrasted rather well with the carpet, The second thing that he saw were the shelves—all of his dinosaur and model planes were accounted for and were on display. He, after completing most of the models that were on display in the room, had put most of the plane and dinosaur models in a box; most of what was on display he hadn't seen in years.

A dark brown oak dresser was to the left of the room; a 40" screen was mounted on the wall above it and, above it, was the clock that he had purchased some years ago but hadn't had a chance to take out from the box or put up—while the clock's outer frame was a mostly dark green color the image on the clock's face was very forest-like. A pack of Deinonychus were hunting a Sauropod dinosaur that looked eerily similar to a Camarasaurus.

The bedside table that was beside the bed was a dark gray color; it had a solar powered lamp, that had little planes hanging down from the mechanical arms that'd turn after the lamp was turned on, on it. This lamp was a new piece to him—he had never seen or owned one like it before; he found himself liking it right away. The B-17 Jet Aircraft Military alarm clock, that was beside the lamp, had been in the room that he and Hazaar had shared on Earth but, like with the clock, and a majority of the room's displayed models, it hadn't been used—he had purchased it and then placed it in the closet of the apartment's second bedroom, where it had remained until now.

His bed was like that of the one that he had owned and slept on when he had been a resident of Green River, Wyoming; it had plain green sheets on it while the comforter had a bizarre camo design to it. The pillow cases that were on the two pillows matched the comforter's design well. The poster, that was above the headboard of his bed, had a pair of Tyrannosaurs on it; due to their having just dived in on the Triceratops that they had brought down, their jaws were all bloody. The poster that had Baby Sinclair on it was to the left of the room's dresser while, beside it, was the poster of a series of dinosaurs running away from a dust cloud. While them posters were known to him, and had been in his possession when he had been on Earth, the poster that was on the room's walk-in closet's door was new; this poster had a model on it that was a babe. She was dressed very much like a flight attendant; her hair was long and blonde in color, her eyes were blue, and her lips were all puckered up. The shirt of the outfit that she was wearing was tight around her breasts—he could see a small bit of cleavage thanks to how tight her shirt was.

A bookcase sat to the room's right side; it had all of his books and magazines on it. The three-headed dragon model, that he had just gotten through completing, was on the bookcase's second shelf—at the moment, it had the shelf all to itself.

The desk, that was placed in the room's bottom right corner, had an incomplete model on it—and how long it had been since he had worked on any model, much less his WWII Lockhead P-38. He had a good mind to start in on it soon—the shelves that were above the desk, which contained several jars of paint and paint thinner, paintbrushes, napkins, and model glue, looked well stocked to him.

"You going to be okay while I go check on your brothers?" Angel asked her son. Lazeer, it seemed, was very centered on the model that was on the desk; she wouldn't be but so surprised if she came in a little later on to see him building it.

"Uh-huh." her son said while still gazing at the room's desk.

She left the room that her youngest son had just been given; upon leaving the room, she saw that Tazir was no where in sight. Either he was with one of the boys, talking, and possibly trying to get the still murky air that was still between them to be lifted, or he was downstairs.

That distant feeling that she had gotten from him still bothered her—she guessed that it had come from the task that he had been doing but she also guessed that something upstairs had been bugging him, which had caused him to be a bit rude to both her and her sons. While she was curious, and a little concerned, about her husband's demeanor she let him be; men needed time to themselves too—time to be their gender and time to unwind from the day's events and time to just think and worry about their own problems.

For some reason, she had a feeling that he was thinking about the activities that she had done while being on Earth—if that was the reason to why he was being so distant with her and the boys then she'd just let him think and wonder for a little while longer. She had never thought about taking a male partner on to relieve the itch of her sexual impulses and she had never indulged in sexual fantasies or activities with another while being on Earth—not only had she been too busy with the boys to think about sex but she had also still been with him. The ring that she had been given after Lhaklar had reached nine months of age was still on her finger; unless to wash the dishes, or to shower, it had never been removed. She was still as loyal as could be towards Tazir, so he had nothing to worry about on whether she had engaged another man in sex or had done any sex deeds during her time spent on Earth.

Angel walked down the hallway; she paid special attention to the rooms that she passed before stopping before the one that had been given to her and Tazir's firstborn son. When she entered the room, she was fast in finding her son—he was sitting in the chair that went to the room's stationed corner desk; it looked like he was overwhelmed with everything that had happened in the last five minutes.

"Lhaklar, you alright?" Angel asked her son.

"Somewhat." Lhaklar answered initially before saying, "Mom... I'm a bit... I'm a bit..."

"Come here, Lhakie." Angel said. Her son stood up then walked over to her; she was fast in wrapping her arms around him after he reached her. "Take it in slowly—I know it's a lot to take in but, do please, don't stress yourself out over what's been given to you. Let me do the stressing, okay?"

"I'd prefer for you to not be stressed either, mom." Lhaklar said. "I love you and I w—"

"Don't you worry about me," Angel said. "I'll be fine. I'm an adult, and I know well how to handle my stresses."

The carpet in the room matched the walls—both were dark brown in color, but the floor was the only one of the two that was shag-like in appearance. The ceiling, which was a mostly medium-brown color, had light red stripes painted on it. The domed light, that was in the ceiling's center, was what kept the room well-lit. A light brown dresser was beside the room's walk-in closet; the 40" screen, that was on the wall above the dresser, had been turned on twice before he had made the decision to not go but so overboard with it.

The room's two, seemingly normal windows had a shelf placed between them; all of the model cars that he had built over the years were on it. The red and silver painted, 1931 Studebaker looked right pretty on the shelf; the dark blue painted, 1960 Chrysler New Yorker was sitting right beside it while the red-painted Model A was beside it. The black and silver painted, 1941 Cadillac Series 62 4-door convertible looked just as proud as the Studebaker—that was the final model on the shelf.

The desk that was sitting in the bottom left corner of the room had three boxes on it; the Buick Streamliner, a 1940's vehicle that had recently been returned to market on Earth, was the only one of the three boxed models that was out and in the open—at the time that he had been taken from Earth, he had been around halfway through with getting the model's main body done. The model kit for the 1948 Lincoln Continental Coupe, that he had purchased while being snuck out of his family's now former residence, still had its plastic on it and so, too, did the model of the 1969 Chevrolet that he had gotten from Hazaar a few days ago.

A black metal bookshelf stood just three feet from the desk; it had most of his books and magazines on it. Quite shockingly, the tin can, that was full of cards that described the cars that had been made from the 1880's to the current day, was also on it. His pornographic magazines, the book on Acidic powers, the scrolls that showed one the various moves that one with Elemental powers could do, and his jade figures were missing—while curious as to where they were he was too nervous to ask about them.

His bed was like that of his old one; it had a black and gold comforter set on it, the pillow cases were either solid black or gold in color. The poster of Uncle Fester, a character that Christopher Lloyd had portrayed in the 1991 film The Addams Family, was on the wall above his headboard; his moose skull and antlers were on the wall that the bed's side was pushed up against while the bull deer rack, that he had gotten from his last hunt, was on the back of the room's door. The Black bullhead catfish, that he had caught on the day that he and his had been removed from Earth, was above the switch plate, which was to the left of the door.

A chocolate brown bedside table was beside the bed; the lamp, that he had made by using both his Acidic and his Elemental Water powers to create an ice-cube around a light bulb and then to make that ice-cube become a permanent fixture to the piece, was on its surface. The upside down light bulb alarm clock, that he had purchased some years ago for $12, looked just as snug as a bug beside the lamp.

"There's a few things missing," Lhaklar said as he pushed himself away from his mother. "Some of my magazines, the book that you gave me on Acidic powers, the scrolls on the moves that can be done by one who has Elemental powers, my jade figures, and my poster of Marilyn Monroe, mom. That's what's not here."

"I'll do my utmost best to get all of what's missing returned to you—when your poster's returned to you, you keep it well-hidden." Angel said.

"Would my returning it to being behind my Christopher Lloyd poster be "well-hidden" enough?" Lhaklar asked.

"Yes—very!" Angel replied. With this matter disclosed, she turned to the other issue that she was worried about. "Take a seat and take it in very slowly, okay? Don't jump into all of this fast."

"K," Lhaklar said, he then started towards the room's bed.

"I need to go check on Bile and Hazaar... will you be okay until I get back?"

"Think so," Lhaklar said as he sat down on the bed. "I'll be right here—on the bed—when you get back."

As she left the room, then went down the hall, she started to wonder if their being in the mansion was the best thing. She understood what Tazir was doing, and she appreciated that he was being slow with them, and she gave him a lot of respect for each step that he took with the boys, but she was wondering if her sons could take what was currently going on in their lives. All of this extravagance... it had to be overwhelming to them.

She had raised her sons the best that she could; sure, she wished that they could of had their own rooms when they had been children and then just before going off to school, and, sure, she wished that she could of bought or gotten them anything and everything that they wanted... during her time on Earth, she and they had had to be careful of their activities, which included any and all purchases that were made and any and all things that they did with their time when they were out of their lived-in residence.

She had felt a fear that, if her father caught wind of anything over the ordinary happening on Earth, he'd come, and then discover that they were on the planet, and then do something to cause some, or all, of her youngs demise and, possibly, her own. She had trained each and every one of her boys on how to use their powers, and on how to use a sword; along with being proud of their training progresses she had also been worrying about whether her techniques in getting them ready for the real world were good enough. The last thing that she wanted, both then and now, was for them to go out into the world, then get into a fight, then be killed because she hadn't prepared them well enough—she did not want to lose any of her babies!

She had been very surprised when Bile's letter came in the mail; this letter, which had included all of the usual stuff that he'd put in it, had also had a sentence in it that had caught her by surprise. Bile had been in school and running track at the time of the letter's receiving... along with also wanting to continue running track he had also wanted to do wrestling. While taken aback by the request she had also told herself that he was a child and that he had the same rights as all of the other children who wanted to become involved in one of their school's sports activities. Along with sending the payment for her son's continuation in track she had also sent the initial payment of $30 for his first wrestling sessions to take place—her son had been most appreciative towards her for this. Like any other good parent, she had always been in the bleachers come time for her son's track or wrestling meets—while her hair had been a different color she had still been the same old Angel Irene.

She had been as good of a parent as she could with her children both before and after their school days occurred and, by the Gods, was she to continue being so now.

When she got to the chamber that had recently been given to her oldest son, she stopped then knocked on the door—which was just as closed as could be. The door's knob was twisted, then the door was opened; she went in right after her son recognized who it was that wanted to come in.

"How're you doing?" she asked her son after he closed the door halfway.

"Getting use to it—it'll probably take me a while but I'll get use to this new lifestyle of mine." her oldest son replied.

The first thing she saw, after entering the room, were the two posters—the one of Raquel Welch was on the back of her son's walk-in closet's door while the other one was to the left of the closet. The poster of Raquel Welch was an old one; Ms. Welch had been on the set of One Million Years B.C., which she had been apart of. She was wearing the two-piece, deerskin bikini that she had worn when she had been filming the movie. The lady in the poster was on her knees; one of her legs was held back just a bit from the other. One of her hands was on her hip while the other was placed to her temple. From what she had been able to gather from her son, he had found the poster in the Green River, Wyoming Flea Market; it had been under a bunch of old, torn up posters at the time of its discovery. He had spent $1.25 to get it—the price, alone, was surprising... with the poster being of a movie that was now a cult classic, it should of been priced much higher than that.

The poster that had Rita Hayworth on it was a very old one; Ms. Hayworth had been photographed while being on the set of the 1946 cult classic film, Gilda—she was on the bed, on her knees, and she was wearing something akin to a silk gown, that looked to have lacing on the top. She had a very seductive look on her face. Like with the Raquel Welch poster, Bile had found this one at the Green River, Wyoming Flea Market; he claimed to of taken a "fancy" to it. Like with the Raquel Welch poster, she had been shocked to learn the price of what he had been charged for Ms. Hayworth—$0.67... her son had spent just sixty-seven cents on a rare, black and white poster that could well be worth hundreds, if not thousands. He had really made off with a bargain buy on both posters.

She hadn't had any beefs with her son buying posters, or with his going to the Flea Market and then returning with the two posters that he had come back with—er, well, she had had a minor issue with the Raquel Welch poster... but she had gotten over it and fast. She'd rather her sons express themselves, and their sexualities, than to keep themselves bottled up.

A dark silver bookshelf was in the room's bottom left corner; all of her son's magazines, knives, and jade figures were on it—the dragon figures were her son's while the bear and rearing horse figures, all of which were on the bookcase's third shelf, were not. She made a note to speak to her son about having them figures, which belonged to Lhaklar, returned to his brother. From first glance, she noted that her oldest son's scrolls on the moves that one with Elemental powers could do were also missing—this gave her cause to be concerned over Lhaklar's Acidic power book, and the scrolls that she had given to her sons, being left on Earth.

The rustic-made dresser, that was beside the bookshelf, looked similar to the one that her son had had when he had been on Earth—the only difference that she could see was that it looked sturdier than the one that her son had previously used. Bile's lamp, which was nothing more than a paper-mache eye-ball, and the skull-like item that Hazaar had gotten for him, were on the dresser's surface.

The Water Buffalo skull, that had come from one of her son's hunts, was on the wall above the headboard of her son's bed while the Buffalo's rack was above the room's door. Her son's skull-shaped alarm clock was on the black-metal bedside table, which was beside her son's bed; the room's bed had a pine-wood frame to it that looked very rustic—Tazir must of put two-and-two together on what this son of hers liked. The comforter set that was on the bed had black, white, and purple deer skulls and antler designs on it; the pillow cases that were on the bed's two pillows had dark gray leg-bones on them.

Her oldest son's chamber had dark green walls in it; the carpet that was on the floor was the darkest of green color. The ceiling above matched the walls to perfection—but, like Lhaklar's, it had stripes painted on it; each stripe was a lime green color, which, she thought, contrasted really well with the wall and carpet colors. The domed light that was in the ceiling's center was much like that of what was in Lhaklar's room.

"Lhaklar's missing a few items—some of his magazines, his jade figures, his Acidic power book, his scrolls on Elemental powers, and his Marilyn Monroe poster." she said after taking in her son's room.

"I did notice that there's something extra in here that's not mine." Bile said. He went to the bookshelf then he carefully removed the jade bear and rearing horse figures. "I'll be making a return of these to him—not sure where the magazines, poster, the book, or the scrolls are. Even I'm missing my scrolls."

"Thank you," she said after seeing that her son was compliant in returning his brother's missing, yet not so missing, figures.

She was about to say something about asking Tazir about the magazines, the poster, the book, and the scrolls that were missing when the door to the room was thrown open; Hazaar rushed in then practically bulldozed her to the floor. Bile was fast in protecting the jade figures and in helping her in not falling to her rump.

"Thank you, Biley." she thanked her oldest son. With that done, she turned her attention to her thirdborn son. "Hazie, what's wrong?"

Hazaar said nothing, so she figured that she'd best leave the room to see what it was that he was so spooked about—one look at his face told her that he was scared. She told Bile that she'd speak to his father about the missing items that were desired to be returned then she escorted his brother from the room; upon exiting the room, she saw that the hallway was empty except for one lone Goblin. She looked at this Goblin for a second before leading her son to his chamber; the Goblin, she figured, had either gone into her son's room to see what was going on in it or to see why it was open instead of closed—while doing one or the other, he had given her unwary, and still nervous, son a scare.

The Goblin was obviously of the male gender—the tuxedo, which was a medium blue color, was enough to tell her what his gender was. He stood four foot, five or six inches tall; he had a dark blue skin complexion and large, yellow eyes. The wrinkles that were on his face were right pronounced on his cheeks and forehead; he had a small wart on his left cheek, the wart that was on the end of his slightly crooked nose was very tiny. The hair that was on his head was dark brown in color; it looked to be right soft.

She acknowledged the man by nodding at him then she took her son into his room; the question of what was bothering her son to make him be so spooked was about to be asked when the name of the man in the hallway came to her. She backtracked to the room's entrance, then poked her head out of the room, then left the room after seeing that the Goblin was still in the hallway.

"Daosi?"

"Yes, My Mistress." the Goblin named Daosi nodded his head.

"You look well." Angel said.

"My Mistress, I thank you." Daosi said. "I do hope that I didn't upset Young Master Hazaar—I merely said hello to him."

And, with that admission, she not only remembered how Daosi Zultoa, Eldass Zultoa's secondborn son, acted but she also knew what had happened. Daosi was one who acted before he thought; while he was a very loyal Goblin he was also one who got more than one reprimand in a day—of the four children of Eldass's to of been employed by her husband it was Daosi who got reprimanded more for his actions or choice in words.

In October, Hazaar had picked up and then thrown Daosi's father and he had also fought him afterwards—it was very possible that Mr. Zultoa's son's innocent "hello" to her son wasn't so innocent. Daosi, for all she knew, might well have plans to make her son feel guilty over causing his father harm and he might also have plans to hurt him—she, right then and there, decided to keep her eye on this man.

Angel said nothing else to the Goblin; she went back into her son's chamber. Hazaar looked at her, then he looked at the open door of his bedroom, then he walked over to her.

Her sons had started asking her for comfort by nuzzling their heads up against hers at an early age; Hazaar and Lazeer, after seeing Bile and Lhaklar doing the head nuzzling thing for comfort, had imitated it and then decided to continue doing it.

Angel, after her son reached her, gave him a warm hug then, after he started nuzzling her, she returned his nuzzle. After a full five minutes of both asking and then receiving the comfort that he wanted from her her son stepped away from her then went towards the room's corner desk; she watched as he took his seat at the desk and then went to work on the model that was on its surface.

"Must of completed the engine that he started a few weeks ago," she thought after seeing that the box, that her son was opening, had one of them passenger cars depicted on it. Her son had started doing a Halloween-theme model train engine a few weeks ago; he had purchased a few cars to go with it, which he had yet to get started on. She put on a smile, then said that, if he needed her, to check his brothers' chambers, then left the room; she went straight to Lhaklar's chamber afterwards.


	9. Chapter 9

"Morning, Bile."

Due to how poor his sleep was, he barely caught her greeting—he was much like a typical human; it took him a few days to get use to a place and then be able to sleep for an entire eight hours.

The new sights that had been on the level that he had found himself as being on last night, coupled by the sounds that had been heard and the fact that his mama hadn't been near or with him, had had a good hand in keeping him up. His and his brothers' mother had said nothing on staying up on the level with them all night—come time for them to go to bed, she had disappeared. He presumed that she had gone down to the house's second level but it was also quite possible that she had just taken up one of the available rooms that were on the level that he and his brothers had found themselves as being moved to—she had stayed with them all afternoon, and then for most of the evening, then she had just disappeared.

He guessed that the curious absence of his mother was a good thing—the maternal figure had decided that it was time for them to be "weaned" of her constant company and that it was time for them to regain their sense of independence.

"Morning, Eshal." he said after turning to acknowledge the one who had greeted him.

"Sleep well?" Eshal asked him.

"Not really—after moving to a new place, it takes me a few days before I can get in a good eight hours of sleep." Bile replied honestly.

"If anything's missing in your chamber, or if there's something wrong or that you don't like with your chamber, tell daddy." Eshal said. "He'll do what he can in fixing it."

"I will, thank you." Bile said. The scrolls that had been noted as being missing in his and Lhaklar's rooms had been found in Hazaar's room while Lhaklar's, Hazaar's, and Lazeer's Acidic power books had "found" themselves as being "filed" in the old man's library; all of the items that had been displaced had been squared away and the books had been returned. After thirty minutes to an hour had passed, he had found that most of his music discs were missing—all he had of his collection was in the black canvas bag that had been returned to him a few days ago; everything else in his collection was missing. The boombox that he and Lhaklar had shared had been found as being in Lazeer's room; after careful deliberation, it had been decided to let it remain in the room. Lhaklar's missing poster and magazines were still missing. Other than his wanting the bulk of his music collection back, and wanting something with which to play them on, he couldn't think of anything that he'd want in his room.

"Think you, our brothers, and mam will be taking breakfast in the dining room this morning?" Eshal asked. She had since taken up a position on the wall; her back, and elbows, were against the wall while her bottom half was free of the wall.

Eshal was three hundred and one years older than he—she should know that she was giving out a sort of signal by what she was doing. While the position of leaning against the wall was very innocent the act of her moving her waist in and out wasn't; he felt uncomfortable right after her hips started pipping—the women in the bars that he had visited while being a resident of Earth had done this... it was usually done in a flirtatious or seductive way and, wouldn't you know it but he had actually had a few women do it with him. He was neither interested in his sister in that way nor wanted to be; he wished that she'd stop doing what she was doing with her hips.

Eshal was wearing a long-flowing purple, pink, and black tie-dye dress, that had silver designs around the neck and hems; the dress fit her somewhat loosely, so none of her body could be seen—the top was also closed, so no cleavage could be seen, which was a relief for him.

He, as a child, had called Eshal his sister; even though there was no full-on blood relation to them they had still called and revered one another as siblings. The act of her pipping her hips at him gave him the impression that she was trying to gain his interest, which wouldn't be happening in this century or the next. He wasn't going to repeat history in picking a member of the family as a mate and he for damn sure wasn't going to stand and watch a member of his family try to seduce him—he turned his gaze away from his sister; he neither made eye contact with her or looked at her when she went to speak to him again.

"We might—depends on my brothers."

"Think daddy wants you guys downstairs for your meals from now on," Eshal said. "I'm only allowed to eat in my chamber when I'm sick, or badly injured."

"I'll keep that in mind, and I'll relay that to my brothers when I see them." Bile said as he looked down the hallway. It took just two seconds before the door that belonged to Lazeer's bedroom was opened; after seeing the door open, he started towards it. "Speaking of which, I see one now. Excuse me."

Eshal's bedroom, he noted, was across the hall from his own; when he started down the hallway, he expected for her to head in the opposite direction—both Lhaklar's and Lazeer's bedrooms were located away from the stairs while his and Hazaar's were located closer to the stairs. Eshal, instead of doing as he had expected of her to do, followed him—he found this to be a trifle bit annoying. How could he speak with his brother, and possibly do an "air cleaning" of the events that happened yesterday, with her around? Surely, the Man of the House wanted her to be downstairs... at her place at the table, or near to where the table was. He started to wonder why she was still on the level; her hair was all fixed up, her face was clean and fresh, and she looked ready for the day's events... surely there was no reason for her to still be up here.

His alarm had been set for 8:00; it had been pre-set for this time when he had been on Earth and, owing to the device having a memory built into it, he hadn't had to re-set it so that it'd go off at the same time. After getting up from bed, then looking the room over, he had gotten dressed; the pair of jeans that he was wearing looked muddy on the knees when they really weren't and the blue shirt that he was wearing was lacking both of its sleeves—the bottom portion of his shirt was "pulverized" while the single tear that was present to the shirt's chest area was very prominent. The socks that were on his feet were brown while the foot-ware that was over them were his usuals—boots, but this time being rather scuffed up and being of the combat variety. Though the idea of his donning a piece of "man's jewelry" had crossed his mind he had decided against it—no need to shock his father, or cause anyone in the house to wonder who he was.

"I don't need to ask if you're cranky or not this morning." Bile said after reaching within talking distance of his youngest brother. Lazeer looked rather ragged; the dark blue bags that were under his eyes were quite extreme while the dark areas that were on his cheeks and forehead were a little less prominent. "Looks like you—"

"Yeah, I've slept none. So what." Lazeer snapped. Bile was fast in holding his hands up.

"Whoa now, Little Brother! I think you'll be needing a nap after breakfast."

"Dad'll let him sleep after breakfast," Eshal said. "You look terrible, Lazeer."

"I _am_ terrible." Lazeer, yet again, snapped. He walked around his two siblings then made his way down the hall; Lhaklar left his room at the precise moment that he reached the portion of the hallway that it was on. When Lhaklar stepped into their cranky brother's path, he received a shock by finding himself being shoved back.

"Someone better warn the old man about what's in store after we get to the table." Bile said out loud.

"Is he always like that in the morning?" Eshal asked. "Daddy's right patient, but he won't allow for him to be like that for long without reprimanding him."

"Only when he hasn't had any sleep," Bile replied, then quickly added, "or when he's depressed. Hazaar's ten times worse in the morning."

"Dad's real worried about Hazaar—he says that he's acting out."

"If a belt had been taken to you for no reason you'd "act out" as well" Bile said lowly before starting towards Lhaklar.

Lazeer, he'd discover an hour to two hours later, hadn't gotten a wink of sleep last night; Lhaklar, when he approached him, looked to of gotten a few hours of sleep—the bags that were under his eyes were present but they weren't as dark as one who hadn't had any sleep would have. Lhaklar was still getting dressed when he exited his bedroom; the red and brown striped, long sleeve, button down shirt was still being buttoned while the brown belt that was around the pair of dark red corduroy pants wasn't done—the zipper and button on the pants were in place but the belt had just been thrown on. The pair of brown shoes, that were on his brother's feet, were nicely tied. He and his brother said a few words to one another then they started down the hall; Lazeer had managed to put a stop to his progress in going to the stairwell that'd take him to the house's second level—to their surprise, they saw that Hazaar and their mother were talking to him. It sadly sounded like that old depression that their youngest brother had been so gripped by when he had been a resident of Earth was back. Eshal, by the time that he and Lhaklar were meeting with their mother, had already gone towards the stairwell and then started descending it.

"Ma—" Bile said after reaching within talking distance of his mother.

"We're to go downstairs for breakfast." Angel was fast in relaying. "You boys just eat your breakfast, I wish to speak with your father about a few things."

"Our licenses?" Lhaklar speculated.

"Our cigarettes?" Hazaar asked.

"My pot?" Bile whispered.

"My poster and magazines?" Lhaklar said.

"My music discs?" Bile smiled after this was all said; while everything of what they had just asked about was important they were doing nothing more than throwing it at their mother. It seemed like that old normal way of life was returning to them.

"Yes, yes, and yes—I'm going to do my best to get you your things today." Angel replied. "Lhaklar, I'm going to let you talk to your father about your poster and magazines first. If you can't get him to give them back, I'll see if I can."

"I love you." Lhaklar said.

It looked like he and his brothers had experienced a similar sleeping period last night; he, like they, had slept very little. He might of had two or three hours worth of sleep before finding himself as being wide awake; the idea of turning the room's tv on and then watching some of it until he felt sleepy again had crossed his mind, as had his going back to work on his passenger car model—he didn't know how his father was when he found that one of his children were found to be awake after light's out so he hadn't done neither of them things. He and his brothers had piddled around in their rooms... had built models, or had just taken in the sights of the rooms, but they hadn't settled into them yet. By way of poking around in his room's closet, he had found that the two posters, that had been in his old room, but that were found to be missing in his new room, were in it. The one of an unknown galaxy exploding had been unrolled, and then looked at, before being re-rolled up and then put down while the one of an alien aircraft being on a collision course with an asteroid had been unrolled and then put up on the back of the closet door.

He was moody, as he usually was after getting up from bed, but he was fine; he was hoping that his mother would get his father to relinquish all that he had taken from them and he was hoping that the meal that was about to be consumed wouldn't be an awkward one—this was the first time that he and his were to eat with their father and sister... that was a little concerning to him, but at least his mother would be close to keep anything that happened low.

He was quite confident that it'd take a few words from his mother before the smokes were returned; their mother, after learning that they were all smoking, had said that as long as they didn't smoke all the time, or got addicted or obsessive over their smokes, they could smoke—she had been a little hard on Bile after learning of his partaking in smoking pot but she hadn't said anything about his needing to stop his habit. He was also quite confident that it'd take a few words before their father relinquished Bile's and Lhaklar's driver's licenses and his and Lazeer's learner's permits—their mother had done the teaching of them on how to drive a vehicle herself and she had also fronted the cash for the tests and licenses, and permits, to be made. Unless word came to her on their driving dangerously, or about how they were raking in driving ticket after driving ticket, she was fine with their driving.

It took a little under eight minutes to reach the room that was called the dining room; his mother led them down the stairwell that connected the second and third levels, then she led them down the second level's hallway, then she led them down the staircase that wound around the foyer's right side. The trek to the dining room took so long because they were either stopping to take in the sights or because they were waiting for the hired help to make room for them to go down the three hallways that they traversed after reaching the house's first level. He and his brothers were "forced" to put a halt to their trip after they reached the room that they were being led to.

"I should NOT be but so surprised that it'd be THIS big!" he thought after seeing the room that they had been led to.

The walls were light blue in color while the floor had a blue marble-like tile to it; the ceiling above matched the walls in color but it looked a bit too shiny to him. It almost looked like a silver-toned paint had been used on the ceiling, which had a coffered looked to it. A row of ribbed glass dome lights hung from the ceiling's center—the room, alone, looked fancy... the hanging lights gave it an even more fancy appearance and feeling.

The table that was in the room's center was long; it looked like it could seat over sixty people. From a distance, it looked to be made out of plain black-painted wood; when he and his approached it, they saw that it was actually made out of black granite stone. The legs that held it up were accent-like in appearance, but were quite sturdy regardless of their delicate appearance. In the center of the table was a gold T and S—he guessed that the old man had gotten the table made special and then had also come up with the idea of putting his initials on it. The chairs that were under the table were very normal in appearance; due to the walnut wood having been painted a very dark chocolate color, they matched the table almost perfectly. The cream and black striped cushions that were on the chairs' backs and seats looked rather comfortable.

Eshal, as expected, had beat them to the room; she was seated in the chair that was on the right side of the table. Their mother, after leading them into the room, took the chair that was across from her. They, at first, took any chair that they wanted to take; after hearing Eshal clear her throat, then seeing her give their mother a look, they got up then "arranged" themselves in order of birth—for him, this was a silly way to eat a meal but, if it appeased Miss. Highness, who seemed to think that things had to go "by order" in the house owned by the old man, he moved to the chair that was between the ones that Lhaklar and Lazeer were sitting on with no fuss. Eshal's face grew very light after this was done; their mother merely nodded her head at them then simply looked forward.

Naturally, the chair that was at the head of the table was vacant—while on Earth, the chair that was at the head of the table had been reserved specifically for their mother; on Moas, that chair was reserved for their father, who was the progenitor of their family.

They had no more been seated before the one who owned the chair that was at the table's front end walked in; he took them in then he approached the chair that seemed to be waiting patiently for him.

"Good morning," TazirVile said after taking his place at the table. "Everyone sleep well?"

"Decently—it'll take a few more days for me to settle in." Lhaklar was the first to respond.

"Same here." Bile said.

"Normal. After getting the place built, then furnished, and then after moving into it, it took me nearly two days before I could get in a full night's sleep." TazirVile said. Seeing as he hadn't heard anything from his two younger sons, he addressed them. "What about you two? Sleep well?"

"Maybe an hour," Lazeer replied in a near whisper.

"Five, maybe six hours," Hazaar lied.

"Lucky shit." Bile looked down the table at his younger brother; he dropped his left eye in a wink.

"Bile," Bile looked at his adoptive father, who, despite speaking so calmly, had had a very serious tone to his voice. "I'll ask only once now. No cursing inside the house or outside of it. Let's show some common decency alright."

"Yessir." Bile said. He looked at his mother, who nodded her head at him; he knew well that he could curse in front of her. She had let him use the smaller range of curse words while in her company but she was very against his going out and using both the small and large range of curse words in public. She wanted him to respect others—some people just didn't like cursing... some were offended by it.

The man commented on their being "appropriately seated" then he took a small, silver bell out from under the table; by way of using a small bit of his Telepathy, which, owing to how non-sentient things also having the ability to retain memories, could be used on buildings, he saw that there was a small hook under the table's head. The bell, he knew, would be removed from the hook when it was desired to be used and then it'd be returned to the hook after it was used.

Three Goblin butlers, clad in either black or light blue tuxedos, walked into the room after the bell was rung; each man was carrying a tray. The trays were placed on the table; the three Goblins left and then returned to the room two more times after the trays were on the table—silver dishes, eating utensils, and plates and bowls were placed to the table then they went on their way. Once the Goblins were done with their third trip to the room they bowed then left; their father, as if on cue, stood then started removing the tops to the various trays and dishes that were on the table. He started making himself a plate once all of the tops to the trays and dishes were removed.

A plate, consisting of a pancake and a half, and two sausage patties, was what he made for himself; a bowl of what they believed was porridge was placed beside the plate just before the man re-took his seat. Whether it was fate or coincidence they didn't know but, right when the man's seat was re-taken, a maid walked into the room; she had a tray on her that contained seven drinks on it. She placed a chocolate-colored drink before their father then she placed a similar looking drink before Eshal; she was on her way to giving them and their mother their drinks when their father cleared his throat. The man stood up then relinquished the maid of her tray; he dismissed the maid then he did the "honors" of distributing their drinks himself. With that matter squared away, he re-took his seat then set in on his breakfast.

Eshal was fast in placing two pancakes and two sausage patties on her plate; a bowl of eggs, and then a bowl of what looked to be rice crispies cereal, that had more than enough blueberry and raspberry berries in it, was made next. Their mother took up a single pancake; she placed two sausage patties, four bacon slices, and then a small amount of eggs on the side of her plate before sitting back in her chair. Bile and Lhaklar made their breakfasts next; Bile placed two pancakes on his plate, then grabbed four bacon slices, before hesitating on grabbing a sausage patty. In the end, he decided that the pancakes and bacon slices were enough; he sat back in his chair then started in on his meal. Lhaklar's plate consisted of a pancake and a half, a decent sized helping of eggs, and two sausage patties; he decided to forgo the bacon that morning. The plates that Hazaar and Lazeer made were very similar to one another; they had two pancakes, two sausage patties, and five slices of bacon on their plates. Hazaar was the only one of them to get a bowl of eggs to go along with his meal.

The meal was consumed in complete silence; it seemed to take forever for their mother to wipe her mouth and then say something about the items that were missing or that their father had confessed to having that they wanted returned to them. Bile, who figured that she had waited until the man was less enthused with his breakfast, paid "special" attention to what was said between the two of them.

"So, what did you do with the smokes that you took from the boys?" she asked.

"They're in a box," TazirVile replied. "I'm letting you have the honor of disposing them."

"I'd like to partake in that honor after breakfast," Angel said. "They won't be getting them back."

"Glad to hear you say that," TazirVile said. "With us adults, it's alright. With them, it isn't—their lungs are much too undeveloped to handle cigarette smoke."

"What have you done with their licenses?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary—they're in the safe that's in my office. Why?"

"I'd like for them to be given to me after breakfast as well." Angel said. She was fast in coming up with an explanation to why she wanted the licenses and learner's permits returned to her after her husband gave her a hard look. "I was the one who put up the cash for the tests to be done and for the licenses, and permits, to be made, so I should be the one to hold onto them until the boys are appropriately aged enough to drive."

"Alright, I'll hand them over after breakfast as well." TazirVile said.

"Bile's missing most of his music collection, you know where it is?" Angel asked.

"There's a few items that haven't been placed in the boys' chambers," TazirVile said. "If his collection of music isn't in his chamber in an hour or two, ask me that question again. I'll see to where they are and to having them returned to him. Most of what the boys have noted as being missing is safe—all in a box in one of the rooms on the level that their chambers are on." TazirVile was fast in replying.

With the smooth way his mother had taken things in asking about their missing stuff, he thought that he'd have it in the ballpark and then some when it came time for him to ask about his magazines and poster. He, in a way, was looking forward to the verbal exchange that he and the old man would have later on about the two items.

The drinks that they had been given for their morning beverage he remembered; he had come across his father making them one day when he had been a little kid—the old man, along with reprimanding him for telling Bile what he had seen, had also tried to play what he had made off on something else. It had taken his parents two weeks to get him back "on schedule" with his morning beverage, which was nothing more than a protein shake that had food coloring and flavor in it. He, as a child, had favored the white chocolate shake; his father had obviously remembered this and had obviously made this for him that morning. Bile had a strawberry flavored shake while Hazaar and Lazeer had chocolate flavored shakes; their mother had a vanilla shake. He said nothing on what he knew of on the drink; he, and his siblings, ate their meal, then drank their beverage, then sat back in their chairs.

When the meal was done, their father re-rang the bell; the same Goblins who brought the trays and dishes in came into the room. They removed all of what they had either eaten off of, or with, or all that they had placed on the table then they left the room. After the Goblins left, his father started one of them after-meal conversations.

"So, Lazeer," TazirVile said. Lazeer looked up then at him quickly. "where, exactly did you find that pocketknife of yours? I take it that it was found on Earth?"

"Uh-huh." Lazeer nodded his head. "There was a fellow on the corner of Weston and Bridge street—near to where the Flea Market is—that was selling the knives."

Bile instantly knew who his brother was referring to; Mr. Wilmont, an eighty-something year old man, was a gentle soul. Even though he lived in his car he sold enough of what he put out on the towel, or on the line that he hung between the two posts that held the Weston and Bridge street signs up, to pay for a single night at a motel. Most of what he made was given to his daughter—he and his now-deceased wife had had three kids; two of their kids were dead while the third was married and had two kids of her own. The only surviving daughter of Mr. Wilmont was having a time with home finances so her father had taken to the helm in trying to help her out.

"How much was spent on that knife of yours?" TazirVile asked his son.

"A dollar twelve."

"Got just one?"

"Yessir."

"Son, you needn't use the "sir" terminology with me. Dad'll be enough, alright?" TazirVile said.

"Okay." Lazeer said weakly.

"Eldass returns tomorrow," TazirVile said after a brief moment of silence occurred at the table. "He's been on vacation since the latter part of October. He's looking forward to seeing all of you."

"What were his injuries? How badly injured was he?" Angel asked.

"Had a few bruised ribs; the two-inch long gash, that was found on the back and top of his head, and the nine-inch long gash that was found on his chest were the main items that kept him from returning to work."

"Ow!" Angel exclaimed while making a face. After making the face, then calming down, she asked, "Where's Homsi these days?"

"He's also on vacation—one of my Generals really roughed him up." TazirVile replied. "Most of his ribs were broken and the tissue and muscle that's around his lower back was bruised. He won't be able to return to work for another week to two weeks."

Ouch; the injuries that the two just spoken about Goblins had gained while being on Earth sounded right painful! While he was young, and while he didn't have all that many personal battles to his credit, he did know a good deal about injuries.

During his tenure at Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic, when he had run track, and then been apart of the wrestling team, he had sustained many injuries—one time, when he had been doing a simple training run on the school's track, he had pulled his hamstring and, in one of his first-done training sessions for the school's wrestling team, he had sustained a broken left arm. His ankle, in one of the first runs that he had done for the school, had come close to being shattered as well. Naturally, with his being on the wrestling team, he had known that he'd get a few bruises and cuts to himself; one time, an opponent of his had had the nerve in trying to take him out by a blow to the inner thigh. He, as was natural of any male, had had a time in getting up and then walking afterwards; he was glad that the guy hadn't aimed his punch up higher because, if that had happened, he wouldn't of been able to get up, much less go to his classes, afterwards—and the guy might of had the same issue too because, after he finally did recover from such a blow, he would of come for him and then roughed him up worse than what he had done to him.

A man's sack was sacred and damn was it fragile! A hit down below the belt would put one of the male gender out of commission for a few minutes to maybe a few hours; if the hit was bad enough, it might also put one out for a few days or even weeks. While his man's sack had been struck, and injured, in the past he hadn't gone running after the one who had attacked it—most of the time, it had been a brother of his who had done the hit; none of his brothers had hit him on purpose so there had been no reason for his to up and run after and then beat them to a pulp for their deed.

Their father asked their mother a few questions on the car after the matter on the knife was spoken of; he asked her if she wanted to continue owning it, then, after being told that she did, he asked if she wanted it to be changed from being gasoline-powered to energy-powered. She, after a moment's pause to think it over, said that she did.

Lhaklar found that his good, brown leather jacket, that had tassels hanging from the shoulders, and his coonskin cap, that had a raccoon tail attached to its back, was in his father's possession; by the time he returned to his room, he'd find both items safely placed in his closet. All of the finger knives that he owned had been retrieved after being removed from his person and then stashed in one of their father's armory rooms—he was told that he'd be allowed to look at them but not have them; the old man said that he would only be allowed to have them returned to his possession after he aged a bit more.

The pair of brass knuckles that he owned had been found; like with Lhaklar's finger knives, which Lhaklar had purchased on the planet Viro for $10, they were in one of the house's armory rooms. While he and his brother would prefer for the two items to be returned to them they didn't comment or say anything about their desire in wanting them back. Like with Lhaklar, he was told that he'd be allowed to have his brass knuckles after he aged a bit more.

"Explore a little more than the second level today," TazirVile said as he stood up. "I've got a few paper matters to take care of, plus a bag to two bag's worth of mail to go through—if any of you wish to speak to me, or have any questions, I'll be in my office. My office is on the second level, as always. A gully washer is expected to blow through shortly; it'll be waging war on the world that's outside of these walls for at least three days."

The normal routine would of happened if they had still been on Earth. He and Bile would leave the apartment to either walk the town, or gawk at the ladies, or possibly search for a woman to sleep with; Hazaar would go out to do his thing, which none of them really knew of, while Lazeer would probably be the only one to remain in the apartment—if the sun had been hidden behind the clouds, he might leave the apartment while, if it had been forecast to be sunny all day, he'd remain indoors and complain about how his eye was causing him to lose out on so much. If a companion wasn't found, or if the opportunity to gawk at the women was low, he and Bile would go out to do a little hunting; he'd be the only one to partake in fishing if no one was available to be gawked at or to sleep with. He and his brothers would smoke their smokes while being out and about and they might also get into a little bit of mischief as well. Their mother, seeing as this was a weekday, would be heading off to work—they'd not see her until lunchtime and then, after lunch was done and over with, they'd not see her until after they got back before curfew, which was seven o'clock.

Since they weren't on Earth anymore, and since they had nothing to do and didn't know what to do, they decided to split up and then explore the house. They left the dining room as a group before splitting up; Bile took Lazeer after they reached the hallway that branched off the one that the dining room was on while he took Hazaar. They went down the hallway in opposite directions after taking on their "charges".

While going down the hallway that the foyer's hallway was on, he made himself stay away from the foyer; he didn't want to head up and bother his father about his missing magazines or his Marilyn Monroe poster just yet—he was going to wait until the man was so enthused with what he was doing in his office before going up to speak with him about them items.

"What's a 'gully washer'?" Hazaar asked after they went down the hallway that ran off the foyer. The hallway that they were on was long and wide; it had a balcony, that looked to have a stretch of the second level's hallway on it, above it.

"A right bad storm." Lhaklar replied. "Something like a small hurricane, or tropical storm—lots of rain, wind, thunder and lightning... hail may be present as well."

"They have hurricanes here?" Hazaar asked. He, ever since he could remember, liked storms; if what was to be experienced in the next few days was what his brother was describing then he had a feeling that he'd be "tasting window" here and soon.

"Somewhat—the winds aren't as bad, though. Gully washers are more like flash floods, but with some of the qualities of a hurricane or tropical storm. Sometimes, it'll rain so hard that you won't be able to see anything—and, once it starts raining, it won't let up for a while." Lhaklar replied.

"Think it'll flood here?" Hazaar asked. Thanks to his brother's description of the storm, he was really looking forward to seeing and experiencing the storm now.

"If so, only to th—"

"Only to the horse pastures."

He had been so interested in getting information on the "gully washer" that he hadn't been paying any mind to his surroundings. He and his brother were still in the long and wide hallway that had the balcony above it; there were many other hallways coming off the one that they were on but they hadn't turned to go down any of them yet. The hallway, that looked to have a sort of glass-like wall to it, that was surrounded by what looked to be rock or stone, had someone in it; the Goblin, who was just now stepping out from the hallway, was the very one who had come into his bedroom last afternoon.

The hallway that they were on had neoclassical, white upholstered benches placed before the entrance of each opening that another hallway either started or ended at; a classical vase, that was a white-gold color, was at the end of each of the benches that were on the left side of the hallway. On the right side of the hallway, on each of the grooves that had been made in the wall, was a bronze vase that had some of the most wicked looking bat designs that he had ever seen on them. There were a few of the neoclassical benches on the right side of the hallway as well, but they were more spread out than that of what was on the hallway's left side. A large opening was to the far end of the hallway; judging by the shadow that could be seen in this opening, he guessed that a staircase was in the opening.

There were many photographs on the hallway walls; some were of bats that were flying out of their caves while others depicted a single bat that was either flying about, or clinging to a branch, or that was chowing down on an insect that it had just caught. The other photographs that were on the hallway walls were of his family—his father and Eshal included in the mix, of course.

The walls were a mostly dark gray color; the white trees, that were painted on them, had tiny bats perched on their many branches. The floor was, quite surprisingly, made out of white stone while the ceiling was a white-gold color; from what he could see, there were three other balconies that overlooked the hallway. A gold glass chandelier, that looked more than a little heavy, was in the center of the hallway's ceiling; the strands that the gold glass hung from seemed to have a long stretch on them. To him, it looked like each of the chandelier's strands had been made out of genuine pearl.

The Goblin named Daosi, who had "barged" into his room yesterday, stood perfectly still for all of two seconds before creeping out from the hallway that he was standing in; this one particular Goblin, after entering his room, then hunting him, who had been in the bathroom at the time, down, had given him a good, long stare before saying _Hello... Haaahzaaah_ —the way he had said his name had scared the bejeebers out of him, as had his presence in the very room that he had just gotten through taking a piss in.

"Yes, thank you, I remember that well. If it flooded, it never went much past the farthest horse pasture, which is also the nearest one to the beach." Lhaklar said. Even he had jumped after hearing and then seeing the Goblin.

"Finally coming out of your shell, Haaahzaaah?" Daosi said. He forgot all about Lhaklar being in the hallway, and he completely forgot about the two boys being sons of his employer. "Or did you pop back in?"

"What do you want?" Lhaklar asked. The Goblin stopped, then gave him a look, then produced a sound that was very similar to that of a low hiss.

"My father will be returning tomorrow, you be sure to keep that wreck of a brother of yours on a thin leash." Daosi said to Lhaklar. "I'm loyal to your parents, and to Miss. Eshal; I'm not loyal to either of you two or to your two brothers."

"You need to head off now." Lhaklar said. He stepped before the Goblin, who stood four foot, five and a half inches tall. The Goblin hissed then, without warning, swung his fist; Lhaklar yelled, then grabbed his knee, then swung his own fist. "I said go on! Leave us be!"

"You just remember what I said." Daosi laughed; he had ducked Lhaklar's fist. Instead of simply turning around and then going down the hallway that he had previously been on he turned then went down the hallway that they were on.

Seeing as the hallway that Daosi had just vacated was "Goblin-free" they went down it; his impression of the Goblin that they had just had a few words with, and that he had just had a small to-do with, was simple enough—the man was crazy and he obviously had it out for his brother. He could care less about himself; his knee was throbbing, and it would probably continue to do so for another fifteen to twenty minutes, but he wasn't worrying about it. Hazaar was his main concern. Hazaar had a tendency to be a bit of a hot head, and he had a tendency to be negative, and to forget things when times of stress were encountered, but he didn't deserve to be targeted by any of the Goblins in their father's service.

Even though he would of enjoyed seeing his brother kick the Goblin's ass—Hazaar had the Goblin by six inches, and he probably outweighed the man by fifty or so pounds—he did have to remind himself that the Goblin was older than his brother; the man, for all he knew, probably knew well the tactics on how to defend himself and he'd probably also be faster and more limber than Hazaar. He didn't want to see his younger brother be bloodied, or broken, by one in their father's service—he'd fight the Goblin off for his brother if such an act of violence ever came around. For some reason, he had a feeling that the Goblin was more out for Hazaar than for him—Daosi, while speaking with him, and while also throwing that punch at him, had targeted Hazaar more than he had him.

He could really care less about how loyal the man was to his father, and, for the record, he could care less about that "loyalty-giving" thing that the Goblins did with the employers that they wanted to work for forever—he wasn't about to let any Goblin, whether male or female, have at Hazaar or at Lazeer or even at Bile.

He had no more started going down the hallway that Daosi had been on when he stopped; Hazaar, who was playing heel clip with him, walked right into him—due to what they were seeing, he said nothing adverse about his sudden stop.

"Are... are those... Striped bats?" Hazaar asked.

The hallway that they were on had two cages on it; the two walls, that had thick glass on them, that was surrounded by stone, contained two very different types of bats in them. To the left, in the cage that was half-dark, was a colony of bats that were very strikingly patterned—while they were a mostly black color they had light brown to tan stripes on their heads, bellies, and backs; the muzzle of a few of the animals that were flying in the left-side hallway-contained cage had a light brown to tan stripe on it while, on others, the muzzle was completely black. To him, the bats that were in the cage that was to the left of the hallway looked like mini flying badgers—the name of Niumbaha superba came to him quickly; the species had been discovered in July of 2012. The humans had tried to save it from extinction; fifty years after its discovery, it went extinct. His father had managed to get a few on the third birthday trip that their mother had taken him on—mother had made a point every few years to arouse him all sweetly; after he consumed a breakfast that she made especially for him, she'd tell him to get up, get dressed, then to follow her to Earth for "a surprise", which had mostly been her taking him to see the planet's many various bat species.

The Striped bats that his father had taken from the planet looked to be fairing right well, and it looked like they had done more than reproduce themselves into a better than fine colony—he bet the humans would be digging their eyes out if they knew of his father having the bats in his possession.

The cage that was to the right of the hallway contained a colony of what looked to be Kitti's hog-nosed bats; like with the Striped bat, the Kitti's bat was extinct—2190 was the year that it had waved bye-bye to mankind. Like with the Striped bats, the Kittie's bats that were in his father's possession looked to of faired well in his father's care. Their cage was much like that of the one that was on the hallway's left side—half-dark, but being furnished with more than enough small trees and items that the animals could grab and then hold onto after either catching an insect or wanting to take a break from flying. Like with the Striped bat, his father had acquired the first individuals to his Kitti's hog-nosed bat colony after going on a birthday trip to Earth.

"I haven't seen so many fuckin' bats in my life!" Hazaar exclaimed.

"Mom wasn't kidding when she said that dad liked bats." Lhaklar said while leading him and his brother from the hallway.

"Liked? More like obsessed!" Hazaar exclaimed. "Was the hallway like this when you and Bile were five and six hundred years old?"

"N—"

He stopped after the memory clicked home; he remembered that his father had been the one who had designed the hallway and he also remembered that the man had overseen the work that had been done on it. It had taken all of six months for the hallway to be built to their father's qualifications—the interior walls had been gutted, and then hollowed out; the glass, that'd allow for the bats that'd take up the hallway-placed cages to be see, had been made and then carted to the house and then hallway; the interior walls had been set-up to meet the demands of the bats; and then the species of bats that's numbers had grown in a very short amount of time had been moved to their new cages. He and Bile hadn't been allowed to go into the hallway after the work on it was started; they had been allowed to see what was going on in it, and they had been allowed to watch their father, and his contractors and designers, get it ready for the animals that it had been set-up for, but they hadn't been allowed to cross the yellow tape or play with the many fascinated tools that had littered the hallway floor.

He and Bile had slipped into the hallway soon after it had been completed—their father had been releasing the Kitti's hog-nosed bats at the time; they had seen the bats flying from their cages and then they had seen them flying all around him, which had been kind of scary yet also cool at the same time. The man had let them watch as he released his colony of Striped bats as well. Both cages had trees, both of the artificial and real type, and bushes in them; the one stream that went along the bottoms of the two cages was what kept the bats hydrated. A chute was what delivered the bats' insects to them; the tunnel, that was in the far back of both cages, had a long tunnel in it—the bats' "indoor" enclosure was at the end of the tunnel. Only their father had access to the enclosures; he usually only went into the enclosure to check on the pups and to see if any of his bats were ill or unhealthy.

He and his brother had been allowed to look at the bats but, due to how young they were, they hadn't been allowed to interact with any of them—their mother, he remembered being told, had been nervous about the bats for a short period of time before accepting them; despite her cool nature with the bats, she had never allowed for them to handle or go near them.

"Yes. Yes—we were here when the hallway was rebuilt." Lhaklar answered the question asked to him. "He designed the hallway himself, then he called in a contractor to build it."

"How many—"

"I don't remember." Lhaklar replied. After exiting the Bat Hallway, he led his brother down the hallway that came off it. "Let's go down this hallway, then the one that comes off it, before we head back. I have an appointment with the old man that I don't want to miss."

"What's your "all important appointment" about?" Hazaar asked. He walked behind his brother for a bit before drawing up even with him.

"About my missing magazines and my poster—the Marilyn Monroe one."

"Oh, good luck on getting it back." Hazaar said.

As his sons explored their old home, and remembered things that they hadn't remembered in years, he was elbow deep in both paperwork and mail. The mail in the bag had been dumped and then sifted through quickly; the bills had been placed in one stack, then the junk mail, that'd do no more than line the cages in the room that his ill, unhealthy, or abandoned bat pups were kept in, had been put in another. The letters from his family had been put in the third pile, which wasn't as high as the other two piles. He had just sat down to look at the contents that were in the three piles when his wife both knocked and then entered the room—the mail had been forgotten right after she did so.

Ten minutes of talking to her, and of showing her around the room that she knew all too well, had happened; he had been affectionate, but he had also been a bit normal towards her—there was no need to weird or stress her out over having a husband who was too clingy or affectionate—, then he had gone to the room's hidden safe. The cigarettes, the bags of weed, the weed that was all rolled up in paper, the driver's licenses and learner's permits, and his sons' wands had all been removed from the safe and then placed in a box—all had been given to her, who had thanked him both vocally and with a small peck to the cheek.

While the cigarettes, and weed, needed to be discarded the wands were property that needed to be kept; he had no right in keeping the wands hidden or by keeping his sons from having them. The music discs that had been noted as being missing in Bile's bedroom chamber had been placed in their owner's chamber; a stereo had just been placed in the room at the time of their placing—Bile looked to not have a thing to listen to music on, so he had gone out of his way to get him something with which he could listen to his ear-rattling, noisy music with. Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer also had stereos in their rooms now. The game systems, with their games and various controllers, had also been placed in the rooms—one of the men in his service, who seemed to know what he was doing with game systems, had been the one to rig the systems up and to match the games with the systems that they went to. He hoped that the boys would be happy with the differences that had been done to their chambers—he was trying his best to keep them happy and to also give them a room with which they'd be happy with.

His wife, after spending ten minutes with him, had left to dispose of the cigarettes and marijuana that he had given her; he guessed that she'd be stashing the driver's licenses and learner's permits in one of the places that she had in the house that she used as a sort of "woman's safe" soon after the cigarettes and weed were destroyed. With his wife's good graces from his presence, he returned to the task that he had formerly been doing—reading the mail and, of course, doing the mass amount of paperwork that he was required to do that day.

"Place like mine gains more than the average amount in bills." he thought after opening the envelope that contained the electric bill.

Due to his place not being fully furnished, and the employee quarters not being as full as they were now, and to the place having just him as its primary resident, the bills had been a lot less than what they were now when it had first been constructed and then lived in. The monthly bills were a lot higher now that he had lived-in staff and that there was more than just himself as being the house's primary resident.

The piece of paper that was in the envelope had the amount of $5,265 on it; he had no problem with paying this—the bill was lower than normal due to him and his family not being home to use the electricity. The normal electric bill would cost him near double that amount.

The piece of paper that he took out of the next envelope, which had come from the company that he got his water from, had the amount of $2,950—again, this was low because of the fact that he and his had been away from the place. Except for the water that was pumped into his fish tanks, or that was given to his horses, sheep, goats, bats, and Platypuses, the only ones who had been frequent users of the house's water were the Goblins who lived in the staff's quarters; the normal bill would cost him over double the amount of what was on the piece of paper.

The piece of paper that he took out of the next envelope, which had come from the company that he got his natural gas from, contained the lowest bill in the stack—$378.08. The Goblins in the staff's quarters were the ones who used natural gas; he and his family, when the seasons turned and it grew cold out, used the house's central unit or simply threw a log in the fireplace.

The pieces of paper, that he took out of the next three envelopes, were from the companies that he got his cable, internet, and phone services from; they contained a near similar amount on them—$1,090 for the cable, $1,069 for the internet, and $1,088 for the telephone. If he and his had been home, these three bills would also be higher.

The property and house taxes weren't due until next year, in February; he'd have to shell $360,000 for that, which he was perfectly fine with—with what he got from his conquered realms on a daily to weekly basis, he could pay that three times a year and still be wealthy and well off.

After looking at the amounts that were in each of the envelopes that were in the bill pile, he took his touchpad up then started using it; the account that he used to pay his bills with housed $25,000 in it—with this being his bill-paying account, he made sure to fill it once at the near-end of a month and he also made sure to wire over the funds that remained in the account to one of his private vaults after the bill paying was done and over with. The act of his using a touchpad, and a bank account, to pay his bills with was a good one—not only would the bills be paid on time but he'd also be forgoing the cost of having to buy a stamp or having to mail out and then wonder if his bill payments were received.

$11,840.08 wasn't the only thing that was going out for the month's bills; he also had insurance, on his home and vehicles, to pay not to mention the insurance that he had on both himself, his wife, and Eshal as well. The bill for whatever repairs had been done to the employee quarters in the three months that he and his had been on Earth, looking for Angel and the boys, also needed to be paid. He was looking to be sending out a whopping ninety to two hundred and sixty thousand dollars that day to various companies.

"And I also have to send out three month's pay to the staff who didn't go to Earth with me and my family." he thought while grabbing and then using his stylus pen on his touchpad.

With his having as many vehicles as he had, his insurance for them was right high; $7,500 went out for that company then $54,500 went to the company that his home was insured through—his mansion's insurance was high for a reason. He had a lot invested in it, he and his lived in it, over two hundred Goblins lived under it... it was just better to have an insurance of that amount on the place.

The normal bills were paid, then the funds that remained in the account that he used to pay them with were wired over to one of his private vaults, then he paid the home and vehicle insurance bills; after doing this, he went on to pay the insurance policies that he had on himself, his wife, and Eshal. Another account, that had $2,000 in it, was what he used to pay the insurance bills with; $380 was sent for both his, his wife's, and Eshal's health insurance policy payments. Due to his age, and to his career of being a conqueror, the payment for his life insurance policy was very high—a whopping $695 was sent in for that insurance payment then the rest of what was in the account was wired over to one of his private vaults.

"While I'm at it, might as well make up accounts for the boys." he thought after paying all of that.

It took several minutes but, in the end, it was worth it. The boys had the same health insurance policies that he, their mother, and Eshal had—he'd have to shell out an additional $1,520 per month; he felt no qualms or beefs about sending that out. The policies were there to insure that they'd stay healthy and that, if anything came up, and they were sent off to the hospital, or anything medical came up with them, their hospital and medical bills would be paid.

After doing all of the bills, he placed his touchpad, and stylus, down then grabbed the first of the envelopes that were on the smaller pile. The biggie in bill paying was over, it was now time to read up on what all the family had sent him.

 _Dear Tazir,_

 _It's been over a week since I've last heard word from you; either your phone lines are down, or the line that runs to your house has been turned off, and there's been no word coming through on the tv about the boys or their mother and I've received no mail from you regarding your family. Do hope that all is well with you and yours—when you get time, please contact me._

 _All of the tombstones that were placed in Surfeit cemetery were taken up and then smashed—they will not have a chance to be remade or replaced to the plots that were chosen for them to be placed on. The plots that were picked for the stones' use are now available for anyone who wishes to take them—hopefully, the five plots won't be put to use anytime soon. The cemetery sure had a peaceful feeling, and a good glow to it when I went in to remove the stones—gave me a good chill for a few seconds before realizing that it was just the Gods. They were smiling, and were ensuring me that what I was doing was right._

 _Came home to find that the three mares that I was looking forward to seeing foals from had given birth; one had a solid bay colt while the other two had spotted foals—you know me and my preferences, Lad. When I breed one of my horses, I do so with having the idea of a foal that has spots on it in mind. The bay colt will be reared until he's six months of age then he'll be sent to auction, along with the other foals that were born as being solid colored or that aren't up to par in my eyes. I also returned to find that the ones that I appointed to look after my indoor animals had slacked in their given chore—Chasan, Makan, and Zoodghin were suppose to be let out in the back periodically for a few hours each day and they were also suppose to be cared for; when I returned, I found three very bored, and stiff-legged, dogs who had obviously not seen a pair of grooming scissors, or a brush, in over a month. Found three Poodusians, Lad; imagine my face when I saw that my three Kuvasz's had turned into being Poodusians in the three months that I was away from home. The birds were fine, thank goodness, and so were the cats, but the dogs had been completed neglected—the ones appointed to keep tabs on my dogs were fired right after I got back. If they're not going to do as I've ordered them to do then why bother in keeping them on the payroll, right?_

 _Looking forward to getting the word on my being able to come to your place to see the boys, and Angel, of course._

 _Take care,  
_ _Shaam K. S._

There was nothing else in the letter; his grandfather, a right nice man, who seemed to have a very good head on his shoulders, owned a slew of pets that he did seem to take very good care of. The three Kuvasz's that the man owned were very well behaved and trained while the two Cymric cats acted as any other feline would. The White Cockatoo's, well he had no opinion on them. Naturally, when the invitations for his family to come over to see and interact with the boys, and Angel, were sent out no pets owned by his family were to be permitted to come with their masters.

He had nothing against pets; everyone had their preference in what breed they wanted, and in what gender they wanted to own, and in what type of animal they wanted to bring home. His main reason in wanting just his family to come over was simple: he didn't want any of the family's vast assortment of pets to mess or ruin his home.

Kuruk's dog, Falaphie, had come over once; not only had her master let her soil the carpet on the second and third levels but he had also let her knock two fairly expensive statues over. Had he gotten an 'I'm sorry', or a reimbursement for the two broken statues, from his brother? No; Kuruk had just seen the mess, then had shrugged his shoulders, then had walked on—no care had been given to the spoiled carpets or the broken statues. His family, sadly and disgustingly, still regarded him as the weakling and as the one who deserved to not get the same amount of respect as another. They also still regarded him as one to push and then walk all over, which was just as infuriating as could be for him.

With his grandfather's letter read, he put that to the side then grabbed the one that was underneath it. He opened the envelope quickly then he removed the contents that were inside; the letter was read right after it was removed.

 _Dear Brother,_

 _Haven't heard a thing from you since your return from Earth; phone calls go straight to voice mail, any letters that are sent to you aren't answered, and I've heard nor seen a thing on the news about you or the ones that you've recently returned home with—hope that you're just too damn busy to answer my correspondence. I cannot deny that I'm concerned about my granddaughter and grandson (Angel and Bile) and my nephews (Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer). Congratulations on having all three of your biological sons as being found to be alive and well and congratulations on having everyone in your family back home; the things that we've missed with the boys—birthdays, holidays, and the such. Consider it, for a minute, that you might just be on child #9 if not for their exit of Moas and then sixteen hundred year absence._

 _Everything is well here; Baruk has been a handful ever since we've returned home. I've had to reprimand him more than once since our return. Kaasa and Sudir are doing well; they're wondering when they'll be able to see their cousins. All of the family animals have been accounted for; Irka's pet Roe-Poe was found after we returned. I've gotten on Baruk for leaving the door to his bedroom chamber open many a time and he just doesn't seem to want to get the reason to why I've done so—as you know, I turn down the heating and cooling systems after me and mine go on any lengthy trips; the ones in the staff's quarters are the only ones to use the house's heating and cooling system during the times where me and mine are away. Irka's Roe-Poe rolled right into Baruk's cold room; she gave birth to a litter of six during our absence—of the six that were born only three survived. She's right depressed over the loss of half of her litter. Irka's not too happy about how depressed Gahzie is; she's still looking for the babies that she's lost._

 _Two of the mares that were due to foal at the time of my exit of Gamma Vile foaled; one had a red foal while the other had a black—you know how I am with my horses, Brother. I prefer gray and black over any other. Everything else is fine; all other pets are fine, no other new additions have been added, although I am keeping an eye on five mares, who are due to foal here soon._

 _Get in contact soon,  
_ _Kuruk S. S._

His brother hadn't been thinking when the purchase of his wife's Roe-Poe was made; Roe-Poe's, though being a new thing in the pet market, weren't an understood species. Most of the animals that were purchased were kept for a few months before being sent to the shelters; the care that was told to give to them by the "professionals" was wrong and the people who took the animals on either weren't able to keep up with the demands of their new pets or they grew tired of them.

Some Roe-Poe's bit; some were so unruly when they did their movements that they knocked certain things down; and, due to inadequate care provided by their purchasers, some got to being so damn fat that they couldn't move. The most concerning thing about Roe-Poe's was when one got pregnant—the animal was small, about ten inches tall, and was about the same in width; due to there being no limbs on the animal, and due to the animal being covered in thick fur, the birthing process was complicated. When a female Roe-Poe gave birth she did so by rolling back and forth; this put the babies that she had previously given birth to at risk of being rolled over and trampled. It also made for the unborn babies to be rolled into positions that'd cause them to not be able to be passed through the birth canal.

The animal needed a temperature of seventy-two degrees to be happy; anything over that, they got sluggish, and they stopped eating. If the temperature was allowed to drop to below seventy-two degrees, they'd stop taking in food and water completely.

Irka had only had her Roe-Poe for three years; in them three years she had encountered issue after issue with the animal. The vet bills for just that one animal were shocking, while the fact that Gahzie had been pregnant twice before was just plain sad. The animal, while looking healthy before the trip to Earth was made, had doubled in size and weight since that second litter was born; he could imagine how big, and heavy, she was now that she had been allowed to breed and then have a third litter.

Vile, his nephew, and his wife's father, had gotten on him for the simple gesture that he had done in purchasing Angel a Sekhem—a member of the mammalian family that was known for its playfulness, mischievousness, and loyalty. Even though the animal had only been known in the pet market for five years he had known a good deal about it; just before his wife's first Sekhem was purchased, he had watched his wife as she played and interacted with the animals that had been in the shop that they had visited. A Sekhem was known to emit a hissing sound before sinking its teeth into the flesh of whatever it was that was either causing it stress, or that was causing it to be nervous or scared, or that was handling it too roughly; Angel had never been bit by her pet. She had always treated it well and it, in response, had never bit or scratched her.

After seeing how well his wife was in regards to her first Sekhem he had gone out to get her another, which had been joined about two years later with another; thanks to his giving the animals the Ever-Life potion, that'd cause them to live just as long as he and his wife did, all three of the animals that he had purchased for his wife were still alive and well. His wife, after coming to bed last night, had been thrilled after entering their chamber and then seeing that all three of her pets were present and lying on the bed—which they had been shoo'd from a few minutes after his wife's entrance of the room occurred; he had been more than thrilled over seeing that she was to join him in their chamber and he had also been looking very forward to having her sleeping beside him.

He had known what a Sekhem was when he had bought his wife her first one while his brother had known nothing on what a Roe-Poe was, much less anything that regarded the animal's needs. Kuruk had just entered the shop, had seen the animals, had picked one out, then had thrown the cash for the animal to the counter; no questions had been asked on what the animal's needs or requirements were.

"I shouldn't because I know that all that's in this is filth." he mumbled after taking the envelope that had his father's address on it up from his desk.

And, by "filth", he really meant just a torrent of words that had been written with the sole purpose of trying to make him feel belittled—his father and he had never seen eye to eye on things, and he had never gained the same sort of love that his father felt and expressed with Kuruk. The same love that the man held on reserve for Kuruk seemed to also be expressed with the grandkids—the old man seemed to hold in favor Baruk, Kaasa, and Sudir over Eshal and, he presumed, Bile, Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer; he had once had a fierce to-do with the man over the powers that Eshal was able to do and he did recall the words that had come from the man's mouth on what kind of powers his biological sons could do too.

Along with the favoring thing the man also held in top regards to one who was an active abuser to his offspring. His backside was teeming in scarring, most of which had come from his father's hands while the rest had come from the battles that he had done when he had been conquering a galaxy; he was quite sure that his younger half-brothers, Gaajah and Selik, also carried some scars on their backsides as well. His father was one who demanded respect; when he didn't get it from the ones that were in his family, he decided to dive into his bag of cruel, unusual, and oftentimes violent tortures. If he couldn't get respect from someone automatically, he tried the old tactic of beating it into that person—the fists would be used first then, if that didn't work, he'd go for one of his belts. As far as he knew, he never abused his female children; he just used normal disciplinary methods with the female offspring that he sired. He just used his mouth whenever it was one who wasn't related to him who wasn't giving him the respect that he both thought and believed he should receive.

 _Where the hell have you been since your return to Moas, Boy? I've called and you've neither answered nor returned my calls. I've written and have received no reply from you. I've seen no sight nor heard a thing of you being on the news—are the boys doing well or are they giving you grief? How's Angel—is she letting you take on the responsibility of both disciplining and teaching the boys or is she dominating on the parenting thing, like I sadly and infuriatingly think she is? It's right sad in knowing that you've raised a daughter practically on your own but that you've done nothing to get her to exhibit any of the powers that you, yourself, are able to do—while the passing of Energy and Acidic powers was well she has yet to show any attempts in being able to do as her sire is able to do in Elemental powers. You might not want to accept it but, on some instances, it's the roughness that brings a certain power out—be rough and tough on her and you might just be surprised with the results that you get. Now that you've got Angel, and her sons, back you'll find yourself as having plenty of practice in doing this—practice that you'll need, since I know that you and she will be adding to your family sometime in the future._

 _Get in contact with me as soon as you can; we have much to talk about._

Same old with him; he was never one for writing and then sending him a formal letter. He'd always write what he wanted to send to him before slapping it in an envelope and then mailing it out. He had to laugh about the man's attempt in "teaching" him how to be a father—he was quite confident in himself in his abilities of being a father and on how to handle both Eshal and the boys.

After reading his father's very informal letter, he stashed it back into its envelope; he had just taken the envelope that had one of his sisters' addresses on it up from his desk when a knock was heard. His head was jerked up after the wood of his office door was knocked on; he went from being interested in the mail to professional in an instant.

"If it's important, enter. If it's not, leave." TazirVile said loudly. After the door was opened, and the one who had knocked on it came into view, he wished that he could take what he had just said back; Lhaklar looked in shyly before doing a half-so entrance. "Son," he said after seeing that it was his son who had come to see him. "come in."

"Am I... am I disturbing anything?" Lhaklar asked.

The habit that he had made out of snapping at the one who "dared" to disturb him when he was in his office needed to be put to a stop and fast, he realized; he couldn't be snapping, and then telling the one who had knocked on his office door to enter if it's important or leave if it's not with his wife and sons being back home. They were still nervous, there was no need in his making them remain nervous or getting even more nervous around or of him.

Like with his wife, he would never turn any of his children out of his office, or tell them that they couldn't come in to see or speak with him. He had relished in his wife's company when she came around to visiting him earlier and he felt the same way with now receiving Lhaklar's company.

After seeing his son entering his office, then noting that he looked a bit nervous, he stood then rounded his desk; he went to his son, who automatically pulled to the side after he reached him. He dug into his patient and understanding side after that happened—his arm reached out, towards his son, then it was placed around his shoulders; he pulled his son in close to him then he started escorting him towards his desk. While on the way to his desk, he noticed that there was a very prominent look of non-recognition on his son's face.

"It's me, son." he said after realizing that he wasn't wearing his glasses; his goggled glasses were in their case, which was currently resting peacefully on his desk. His son, who hadn't seen him in sixteen hundred years, hadn't been able to recognize him due to his face lacking its usually placed goggled glasses. "There's no one other than your old man here."

"I know," his son said weakly. "Just... just seeing you without your glasses—"

"While I'm a frequent wearer of them I do need to let my eyes "air" out once in a while." TazirVile said. Lhaklar tittered in response.

"I saw the bat hallway—looks like you've still got a good colony." Lhaklar said.

"Bigger than what you saw my son," TazirVile said after having his son sit on the room's couch. He took one of the two chairs that were placed before his desk. "The Striped bats put out at least two to three litters a year."

"Don't think I saw any babies in the Striped bats' cage..." Lhaklar said, then muttered, "Course, I wasn't looking for any."

"There's probably more than five babies in that cage. I usually just let them breed, have their pups, then do a quick count a few weeks later." TazirVile said. "Them Striped bats are rather valuable—are they still extinct on Earth?"

"Unfortunately," Lhaklar sighed. "Quite a lot of animals on that planet have gone extinct due to—"

"Poaching, habitat encroachment, and diseases made from the stress that caused their immune systems to become weakened." TazirVile shook his head.

He had spent a few more minutes with Hazaar in walking down the house's many hallways before making the decision to back-track to the hallway that the bats were on; he had remembered the hallways that he and his brother had gone down so he hadn't gotten lost while on the way back to the hallway that Daosi had been on. Hazaar had followed him all the way; at the moment, his brother was waiting for him outside of the room's door—he had refused to come in with him; dad obviously didn't know that he was "waiting" for him to exit the room or that he was nearby.

After entering the room, then noticing the man that should be his father but who wasn't wearing glasses, then learning that the man was his father, then being led to the room's couch, and then being coaxed into sitting down, he decided to start the conversation between he and his father about the poster that he wanted back slowly. The poster, he decided right then and there, was a tinge more important than his missing magazines.

After a few minutes of talking about the bats that were in the Bat Hallway, and about Earth's extinct life forms, he decided to dive into the issue that he wanted to speak to his father about.

"So, about my Marilyn Monroe poster," Lhaklar said. "I'd like for th—"

"Don't start on me about the poster, son." TazirVile said. "I was serious when we were on Earth. She's much too provocative and you are much too young to be looking at something like that."

"You let my brothers have their magazines." Lhaklar pointed out. The conversation between he and his father went downhill swiftly after he said that, and this, "And you let Bile have his two posters."

"I did, yes. If you haven't noticed, Lhaklar, them items aren't big or noticeable." TazirVile said strongly. "If them items had been poster-sized I wouldn't of given them back." after saying this, he said something pertaining to the returned posters of his adopted son's. "As for the two posters that were returned to your brother, there's nothing on them to be overly concerned about. Do you see the ladies in them two posters posing while being naked? They have clothes on; your poster is fully naked. That's something that you don't need to be looking at or have in your possession."

Things between the two of them went a bit too over-hand and fast; he, in response to being gotten on for having the poster, got angry. He stood up, then started voicing his opinion on his father getting on him for something that he shouldn't be getting on him about, then he was told—or, uh, demanded—to sit back down. The man started on him about respect, and on how he shouldn't be challenging him afterwards—the fact of his thinking that the man was picking favorites among his children was what caused him to explode, which caused his father to more than blow up in his face.

The magazines that had been returned to his brothers had fully naked women in them; if what the man had said about his not partaking in looking at such stuff was true then he wouldn't of allowed his brothers to have their magazines. The same went for the photographs that were in Bile's wallet—Bile still had them three photographs, and dad had to of seen them, yet he hadn't taken or said a thing pertaining to them. The fact that Lazeer had a new poster in his room, that depicted a woman who had some cleavage showing, gave him the belief that the man was playing favorites—Bile, Hazaar, and Lazeer had the things that depicted naked, semi-naked, or seductive women on them but all of the items that he owned of that caliber weren't in his possession nor had been returned to him.

His father, after giving him a few-minute lecture on respect, and on how one of his age shouldn't challenge their elders, stood then went back to his desk. He looked at the man for a few minutes before getting to his feet and then leaving the room; Hazaar, who noted that he wasn't in the best of moods, and who had heard all that had happened in the room that was their father's office, said nothing to him.

He went down the hall, towards the stairs that'd take him to the house's third level; once his ascent up the stairs was done, he went straight to his bedroom. Hazaar stopped mid-way to his brother's bedroom; he watched as his brother went on his way before turning and then going towards the room that he had been given yesterday. He had just entered the room when he heard the door to Lhaklar's bedroom being slammed shut.

The first thing that Hazaar saw, after entering his bedroom, was his mother, who was sitting on the room's bed.

"I take that your brother's meeting with your father didn't go well." Angel said. Hazaar shook his head. "Close the door, baby. I have a few things that I want to return to you."

He did so; it didn't matter if it was snowing, raining, or if the ground underfoot was cracking or breaking up—he did his utmost best to obey his mother. After closing his bedroom door, he turned then walked over to his mother.

She looked fresh; she looked as if she had just stepped out of the shower, and she was wearing a very pretty outfit. The pants that she was wearing looked similar to that of what a hippie would wear—from the knee on down, they had a flared belled look to them; except for the flared part, that was a very dark purple color, the entire piece was a very light purple color. The purple, slip-on shoes that were on her feet looked comfortable and so, too, did the cut-off-the-shoulder, tie-dye purple blouse that was worn over her top half. Besides the ring, that had an oval aquamarine gem set beautifully between three rows of diamonds, the top row having vanilla diamonds on it while the other two rows having chocolate diamonds on them, that she always wore she was wearing a purple amethyst ring, that had a sterling silver band on it; the ring that she regarded as her wedding ring was on the ring finger of her left hand while the other ring was on the index finger of that same hand. Other than the two rings, she was also wearing a three-strand purple amethyst and shell necklace.

"You look good, momma." he said after sitting beside her.

"Thank you, sweetie." Angel said. She stood for only a second; a brown box was removed from her left pants pocket before she sat back down. "Crescat," the box, which was nothing more than one of them cardboard types, grew from being small to normal sized. He was able to see that it had six packs of cigarettes, and two wands, in it.

"Momma,"

"Shhh, baby." Angel said. "There's several brands in here, which ones did you smoke?"

"Kamel and Marlboro, momma."

"You know the spell to hide these, right?" Angel asked, she gave all of what her son had said he smoked to her son. In all, she gave him three and a half packs of cigarettes; the remaining packs of cigarettes were of a brand called Black Devil. After giving the cigarettes over, she took the wand up then placed it on the room's stationed bedside table.

"The one where they're hidden in plain view but can't be seen?" Hazaar said after looking at and then stacking his just-returned smokes on his lap.

"No, not that one. Your daddy has a nose on him—he'll find them and fast if you use that spell on them."

"Could I hide them under the ground? Do the spell that'll—"

"Yes, Hazie. That one should keep them hidden and safe from your father." Angel nodded her head.

"Become hidden in the ground; let the dirt roll over and hide you; do not let yourself become known except to your owner." Hazaar said, his smokes suddenly disappeared from his lap. "I know the counter-spell well, momma, so I'll be able to get one or more whenever I want to have a smoke."

"Be careful now—smoke in secret and never inside. When your father decides to let you and your brothers explore the outside, smoke out there and always do so while hidden." Angel cautioned her son.

He promised that he would; with this matter squared away, and with his smokes now being safely hidden, he turned his attention to his wand. He was rather fond of the wand that he had gotten after all of his forms had been done and then signed by both the Dean of Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic and then his mother; it looked pretty basic but it was a very good instrument that one with magical powers or abilities, or who had been taught certain things that pertained to magic, could use. It was a plain, straight stick that was a light yellow color; the crystal ball, that was on its kell, had a tightly woven strand of dark brown leather coming from it. A leather strand wrapped around the wand a few times before coming to an abrupt stop.

His mother, after returning his missing items, then speaking to him about his returned smokes, gestured at the room's stationed bookcase; it was at this time that he saw that there was a new thing in his room. During his outing with his brother, a hand-carved wand holder had been placed to the bookcase's second shelf. After seeing this item, he got up; his wand was walked over to the bookcase and then placed on the item that was meant to hold it. With that done, he turned around.

He gasped, then his O-shaped mouth dropped, after he saw the stereo system, which hadn't been in his room that early morning.

"M-momma..." he stuttered.

"Yes, honey. Your daddy put in a stereo system while you was out." Angel said while standing up from the bed. "You keep them cigarettes well hidden. If you play that loud, use the Silencer spell, okay?"

"Yes, momma." Hazaar said. He started towards the stereo system; the logo on the system's front said UF-X3 in bright, blue letters. The system was big and tall; except for the indigo blue speakers, it was a mostly black color. It had a port for both discs and tapes. It was sitting on a sturdy, dark brown table, that looked to have stone legs on it—like with the wand holder, and the stereo system, this hadn't been in his room earlier.

Seeing as he had nothing to lose, he grabbed the disc that said The Massacre on it; the disc of music that he had just taken up from the music holder, which was yet another new piece to the room, and which was mounted on the wall above the stereo system, contained music that had been made by a man who had gone by the name of 50 Cent—his mother, Lhaklar, and Bile didn't much like the artist but he and Lazeer liked the guy's music.

After sliding the disc into the machine, then pressing the button that'd turn the machine on, he said the Silencer spell, which would make all sounds that occurred in his room not be able to be heard from outside of it. A wide smile formed on his face after the system started playing the first song on the disc that he had put into it.


	10. Chapter 10

The forecast had said that the start of the storm would begin at ten o'clock; the man who did the weather, while getting it right on when the precipitation was to begin falling, hadn't gotten it right on when the wind was suppose to start being felt. It started drizzling around ten o'clock; the drizzle was consistent until just after three in the afternoon—visibility grew very poor after the rain started pelting the area after 3:10 p.m. The wind was felt about an hour later while the thunderstorms didn't make an appearance until after nine p.m. He and his did as they usually did when one of the ocean storms blew in—a briefing on what was expected was done then the house was checked. Anything that needed to be brought into the house—the porch or lawn furniture, and the kids' toys—was brought into the house, or put in the garage; the windows, the shutters, the front and back doors, and the roof were checked to see if they'd hold against what had been forecast; and the yard was checked of items that the storm's winds could pick up and then create havoc with by blowing either towards a house or towards a structure that was associated with a house. When all of that was done, he and his had sat and then either watched or listened to the storm as it waged its slow assault on them.

While he and his family knew the routine of ocean storms, and while they also knew the routines that they did when potentially dangerous storms blew in from the sea, certain members of his family had still reacted to the storm after it started getting really bad. Akavira, Lorboyan, and Zardox, his and his wife's current young ones, had done as they usually did after the storm blew in—yell, cry, and beg for mommy and daddy to make the "monster" go away. It had either been he or his wife who had carried Zardox around the house; Akavira and Lorboyan, despite being "thoroughly scared" at the time of the torrential rain's start, had followed them as they went by their own in the house. He hadn't been but so surprised over seeing himself as being kicked out of his and his wife's bed after the hour came around for everyone to go to sleep—even after the Silencer spell was done on their rooms, and then on the house, Akavira, Lorboyan, and Zardox had plain refused to sleep in their own beds.

A decent amount of hail had started mixing in with the rain at around midnight; at around this time, a transformer in the area blew, which plummeted his and his family's abode into complete darkness, and which elevated Akavira's, Lorboyan's, and Zardox's fear levels. At the time that he, Zshon, Daosi, Yhozah, and Mekaia were getting ready for work, the storm was still waging war on the house—regardless of the storm's rage still going on outside, the men who took care of the power had been hard at work in getting the power to the neighborhood back on. The power to the house was restored right when he and his four children were getting ready to step foot out the door.

Akavira, Lorboyan, and Zardox had begged and pleaded with him to not go to work; Zardox had practically wrapped himself around his legs while Akavira and Lorboyan had tried to "bar" the way to the door. Aboshi, after being called in on the situation, had taken care of relieving him of them three issues—a quick talk with the three had set them straight on where he was going and on his coming back in all once piece; as expected, when he had taken to driving out of the garage, he had seen that the three had been glued to the house's front windows. His action of honking the car's horn had done the trick of telling them that daddy had seen them and that all was fine—or, at least he hoped that that message had been the one received by the three; so far, he had yet to hear anything on their perceiving his sent message as something different than what he had intended to send out to them.

"Stay behind me and keep at least three car lengths between us." he had said after he and his four grown children had reached the garage.

They were adhering to his instructions well; the instruction of their not using their cellular phones until after the drive was done hadn't needed to be told—he, as a father, had still said it though. He had broken this given instruction while on the drive; after reaching Jaszi's Street, then finding that it was a mostly water-logged mess, he had made the decision to call his employer to tell him that he and his four children were going to be late in coming in that morning. Master Tazir had said no problem before saying for him and his to be both careful and safe while on the way to his place. After backing up, then driving away from Jaszi's Street, he had found another street that wasn't water-logged or covered up in debris.

His car, a Tazzari EC, took the drive well; the white paint that was on his car shone brightly, which aided Zshon, Yhozah, and Daosi in noting where he was and in keeping within a certain distance of him. Unlike Zshon's car, which wasn't "young" by any means, his car was relatively new—he had purchased this little, two-door car just three summers ago; it had a small front end, the trunk compartment was spacious, and around four at a time could ride in it. Like all of the other cars on the planet, his car ran on energy instead of fuel. Owing to the fact that he had just purchased new tires for the vehicle, he wasn't slipping or sliding or losing traction with the slick road.

In all, he and his four children were nearly an hour late in punching in.

"Thank the Gods that is over with!" Yhozah Impan Zultoa, a green-skinned Goblin who had blue eyes and short, light blond hair, said after parking his car in the employee garage and then getting out of it.

"Made it in one piece, and no cars were made into boats while on the drive." Daosi said. "How'd you fair, Meke?"

"There's a fine set of imprints on the seat that I took to sit on," Mekaia Zultoa, the oldest of the Zultoa twins, who had light blue skin and eyes, a few warts on her chin and cheeks, a slightly long nose, and long, light blonde hair, said.

"If I hadn't been in need of concentrating on my driving I'd of found her either sitting nearly on top of me or on the wheel." Yhozah said.

He said nothing after parking his car in one of the available parking spaces; his rain slicker, and galoshes, were removed, then thrown into the trunk, then he went straight for the parking lot's appointed office.

One didn't get a job as good as his and not show up properly attired for it; even after spending over a month away from his job he had still taken steps to ensure that he'd look presentable. The white tuxedo, that he was wearing, had been picked right before he had gone to bed; the shoes that matched it had been given a quick polishing before being returned to their box. While there was a set of lockers in the parking lot's appointed employee office he didn't feel like putting his still soaping wet slicker and galoshes in it—he usually only used his given locker when the cause was good; the trunk would be just as good a place for his wet coat and galoshes.

After taking his card out from the box that was to the left of the punch-in machine, he slid it into the machine; the card was returned to the box right when a crack of thunder was heard. Figures; he and his hadn't heard a single bit of thunder, or seen any bolts of lightning, all during the drive. It had just been raining and very windy during the drive. After punching in, he went to the door that'd give him access to his employer's house; he neither stopped nor hesitated in going in after reaching it. His three sons, and his one daughter, followed in his example in punching their tickets in and then going to the door.

"Check with Master Tazir first before doing anything in the house—he might want to speak with me before I go to work or he might have something in mind for me to do that's more important than what I normally do in the house." he thought after entering the mansion.

The events of what occurred yesterday had been told to him by Zshon; right after getting home, then finishing his supper, his oldest son had told him that the oldest of their employer's biological sons had gotten his first reprimanding—the young man, sometime after entering his father's office, had stood up and then challenged his father. The boy had gone to seen his father about a poster that he had noted as being missing in his chamber, and that his father had already disclosed an interest in not returning to him. Prior to the reprimanding, Young Master Lhaklar had been with his younger brother, Hazaar; they had been seen as walking the hallways of the house's first level for ten to fifteen minutes before going up to the second level. Young Master Bile had done as his two brothers had in exploring the house as well; he, and his younger brother, Lazeer, had started on the house's first level before going up to the third and then fourth levels. Mistress Angel had spent some time in her and her husband's bedroom chamber, getting herself all freshened up, after seeing her husband about some of the items that he had confiscated from the boys—unlike her son, who had been most immature after entering his father's office, she had been very mature and she had also gotten the items that she had been there to retrieve.

A talk was said to of happened between Mistress Angel and Young Master Lhaklar about thirty minutes to an hour after the challenge was issued between son and father; Zshon claimed to of not been in the area when the talk occurred but he had put forth the idea that he thought of the boy having been gotten on for his action towards his father. Up to lunchtime, nothing else of high interest had happened in the house. Bile and Hazaar had gotten into it at the table; they had been silenced by their father right after the altercation between them was started. Mistress Angel, at around five in the afternoon, had seen her husband about some magazines that were missing in her second oldest son's chamber; a small talk was made between the two before the missing magazines were returned, Mistress Angel had left her husband's office peacefully after retrieving the items that she had been there to get.

He knew of the boys' educations and he also knew that his employer was rather disappointed over hearing that his sons had no further interest in having anymore educations under their belts—Daosi claimed that their employer was hopeful that, in the next few years, the boys would make a change on their decision in not furthering their educations. He was personally not sweating the issue on the Young Masters not wanting to pursue the matter of returning to school—Master Tazir and his Mistress were forever young... they were eternal, so they could, and they probably will, have other children that would be interested in going on with their educations and that would be interested in taking to the helm in following in either his or her father's footsteps.

Mistress Angel had slept with her husband the night before last; Mekaia claimed that their employer had been most happy after waking, so he and the adult members of his family were all thinking that it hadn't been just plain sleeping that had happened between the two of them—sixteen hundred years was a long time and his employer hadn't had anyone to sleep in his bed with him much less sleep with in all that time... it was very easy for them to think that the two had engaged in sex during their first night in sleeping in the same bed.

"If no sex occurred between them then he was just happy over not having a half-cold bed to sleep in, or get up from." he thought after letting his instincts take over in leading him through the house's many hallways.

At around the time that he had become his employer's Most Trusted Butler an instinct had come into being that revolved around his automatically knowing where his employer was in the house; he used this instinct to guide him to where he wanted to go. He went down two hallways, then he went up the staircase that wound around the foyer's right side, then he went down the hallway that was on the second level before stopping. The door that he was looking at was very normal in appearance and, from what he was able to hear, someone was on its other side. He could hear the muffled sounds of someone talking and of more than one replying back.

In a lot of ways, he wasn't but so surprised over seeing that his instinct had taken him to the door of the room where all of the tapes, newspaper articles, and photographs pertaining to his employer's search had been stored. What perfect a place for his employer to be and, if he was hearing things correctly, for his employer's just returned family to be. Without further ado, he stretched his hand forward then knocked on the door. His employer opened the door, then stepped out, after his second knock was done.

"Eldass? You, Zshon, Daosi, Yhozah, and Mekaia arrived safely?"

"Yessir. Some of the roads are a bit messy, and the wind is horrible, but I, my sons, and my daughter arrived safely." Eldass replied.

"Glad to hear that," his employer said before diving in on what he wanted him to do that morning. "I've got the bigger of my assistants tending the goats, sheep, and horses today—other than your usual, I want you to keep your eye on the back. The ocean had a three-foot swell to it last night; contact me if it creeps in closer or comes in contact with the lowest pasture, hear me?" TazirVile said.

"Yessir, I'll do that." Eldass said. His employer said nothing more; he just ducked back into the chamber that he had formerly been in. After being given his morning orders, he turned then went down the hall to do them.

They said that one started off on a new leg, or had a fresh start, when the coming of a new day came around—in regards to this, he had put Lhaklar's little challenge towards him behind him. He and his son had started off with a clean slate that morning, which was still as clean as could be now, twenty-five minutes after breakfast was consumed.

He had seen to it in making breakfast for the family that morning; except for him and his wife, everyone had eaten in relative silence. When he had been younger, he had preferred for the table's inhabitants to be silent during the meal's consuming; now that he was older, and was a husband and father, he liked for conversation to be done and for a little bit of cling, clang, and clatter to be heard during the task of the family's meal being consumed. It gave the room a lived-in feeling and it also made him feel like he had a normal family—Angel had waited until he was done with his morning meal yesterday to talk to him while she had gone right on in in talking to him during yesterday's lunch and then supper and then that morning's meal. He was looking forward to when the boys, and Eshal, engaged one another, or just plain spoke or made noise, while at the table—as of right now, they were just being quiet when they ate; to have all of his family engaged in conversation while being at the table would be a grand thing, he thought.

After the meal was consumed, he had excused himself; a few phone calls had been returned, and a few important matters had been squared away, then he had tracked his wife and sons down. He had made the sudden decision in showing them his efforts in trying to find them—it might bring him and them closer together and it might also close that still open crack that was present on him in regards to his wife's and sons' disappearance.

Last night, at around the time that they were all slated to go to bed, Angel had, once again, joined him in their bedroom chamber; while sleeping in the same bed with her, and while having his front side pushed up against her backside, had been nice he had still worried a little over the boys, who had been and were still a little on the nervous side.

Bile and Lhaklar, when they had been very little, had been terrified of storms. If the Silencer spell wasn't used in time, or if they so much as saw a lightning bolt, they'd be screaming and then either hiding behind some item in the house that'd keep them hidden or they'd come running for him or Angel. When the storms started at night, them two would come running down the hallway to his and his wife's bedroom chamber, where they'd be allowed to sleep with them for the remainder of the night. The two had stopped doing this at four hundred or so years of age—he had missed that period in their lives after they had stopped doing it and, honestly, he had been hoping to re-live it with both Hazaar and Lazeer when they reached that walking and talking stage in their lives. With the boys being in their mid-teenage years, he hadn't had to worry about having them run from the third level to the second and then jumping into bed with him and his wife—it seemed that both Bile and Hazaar liked storms; Bile had been noted as looking out one or more of the house's windows to see the storm as it progressed yesterday afternoon and Hazaar had been noted as staring out one of the two windows in his bedroom chamber at the same time.

Even though Lazeer looked to be a little more settled in the house he was still a wee bit concerned about him—this son of his had sounded a bit depressed yesterday and, that morning, he had still sounded depressed. He was hoping that he'd either speak of what was bothering him or that his depression would disappear after all that was in the room that he had taken him, his mother, and his brothers to was shown to him.

He wanted them to stay in the room for a while. He wanted them to read the newspaper articles, or watch a few of the broadcasts that had been recorded, or look at the photographs that were framed. Instead of staying in the room with them, he was to leave them be—he wanted them to see his efforts in trying to find them on their own.

"There has to be over fifty newspaper articles in this room!" Lhaklar said in a low, but quite elevated, voice.

"Much more than that, son." TazirVile said. "The albums on the room's bookcases don't just contain photographs of you, your brothers, and your mother—there's a couple that have nothing but newspaper articles in them."

"You really _did_ do a lot in searching for us, didn't you?" TazirVile jumped; Angel, who was standing directly beside him, had reached her hand up. Just feeling her hand wrap around his own made him want to melt.

"Yes, My Love. The only one who kept the search going," TazirVile said. "Other than my mother, Cheshire, and their family, and Qeeta, I was the only one in the Surfeit clan to continue looking for you and the boys."

"I'm almost afraid to sit and read some of the articles that're in the albums that you mentioned." Angel said in awe. "The room almost looks like a museum, Tazzy."

"Almost? Mom! It _is_ a museum! The museum feeling is very showy in here!" Lhaklar came close to exclaiming.

The room, which, before she and the boys left the planet for Earth, hadn't been used, was very different now; it looked like Tazir, in the time that she and the boys had been "missing", had been busy in reorganizing the room so it'd look somewhat like a shrine.

This room, which had been a bedroom sixteen hundred years ago, was lacking all of its bedroom furniture; a dark brown couch was to the far left of the room while, before it, was a brown-wood coffee table—that was as bare as could be. A hovering screen, that had a red and yellow pulsating frame to it, was before the coffee table; the rest of the room, while looking to be well organized, was a bit cluttered to her. There were several shelves and bookcases in the room; the shelves had photographs of her and her sons on them while one of the room's bookcases was dominated by either framed newspaper articles or newspaper articles that were being held up by a wooden or plastic stand. Another bookcase had nothing but video tapes and discs on it; the one that was beside it was dominated by photographs of women and children who, for some strange reason, looked eerily similar to her and her sons. The fifth and last bookcase, that was near to where the room's one window was, contained nothing but picture albums on its shelves.

Before she could say anything else on what she was seeing, Tazir turned towards her; while keeping her hand on his, he led her to the couch. The boys followed closely behind them. Once they were all seated, Tazir said a spell that'd make a few of the room's items hover up from their stationed places; these items flew across the room then landed very quietly on the stationed coffee table. Once the items were before them, he turned then left the room.

"Stay for a while, do some reading and tape watching." he said before leaving the room. "If any of you wish to see or speak with me, I'll be in my office."

Seeing as she and her children had just had the option of not looking at any of the items in the room removed from their list of things to do she took the first of the items that were on the coffee table up. The book that she took up was big, heavy, and it had a title on it that said _First 100 Years_ —she guessed that the book's title revolved around the first one hundred years that she and her sons had been missing and the first one hundred years of her family's search for them.

To her amazement, when she opened the book, the first article that her eyes landed on was on Lazeer's birth; the one that was beside it was of his being discharged from the hospital and then being brought home.

Lazeer, after seeing that the two articles were on him, slid over closer to see what all had been written on him.

 _From the Moas Proctoris Times, February 15, 2499 (Page 1)  
_ _Surfeit Family Scare—Baby Born Prematurely_

 _For some, the birth of a baby is a happy, joyous occasion full of wonder, amazement, and emotion; for the Surfeit family, who's numbers were boosted by one two days ago, it was full of emotion but lacking all the rest of what is felt after new life is born. A great scare was given to the family after Mrs. Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit, the Universal Wife of TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit, and the daughter and Family Mate of our galaxy's ruler, Master Vile, found that her pregnancy, which was noted over five months ago, was coming to a too-early conclusion._

 _While the scare was taken seriously by the family's various members it took a while for the Universe's many news networks to realize that it wasn't a false report; almost all of the news agencies located in the M-51 Galaxy are reputed to of discarded the report on the premature birth of Mrs. Vile-Surfeit's baby—until a family member confirmed that the scare happened, and that Mrs. Vile-Surfeit was in labor, the reports were forgotten. Mrs. Vile-Surfeit, before the too-early conclusion to her pregnancy occurred, was noted as being fine and on-schedule for one in her condition—she was seen as gaining the weight appropriate for her, she was seen as consuming the foods and beverages appropriate for one who's pregnant, and she was seen as doing pregnancy-appropriate exercises. She was also noted as looking after her three sons, Bile Vile, sired by her own father, LhaklarVile Closhu Surfeit and HazaarVile Tlair Surfeit, sired by her Universal Husband, and her adopted daughter, EshalVile Eskara Surfeit, who was born through her Universal Husband's first wife, Bespe Rakaduc. Many of the news agencies that discarded the report are now disclosing their deep apologies to the family for their assumption of the report being a false one._

 _It's being reported that Mrs. Vile-Surfeit's water broke an hour after noon-hour struck; instead of being slow in taking her up, and in taking her to the hospital, her husband grabbed and then whisked her away. Cawanuuk Hospital is where she is said to of been admitted. Labor was swiftly induced after she was admitted to the hospital; seven hours after labor was induced, she gave birth to her fourth child, who is said to be of the male gender._

 _"The child was born healthy... he acted fine despite being born rather tiny." Cheshire Ubalki, TazirVile Surfeit's stepfather and Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit's step-uncle turned father-in-law, said when questioned on the baby born to his stepson and daughter-in-law. Four hours after he was born, the tiny newborn to the pair was noted as not being fine; it's being reported that he's now in Cawanuuk Hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. "While a date to his homecoming isn't known, or is being told to us, they're doing all that they can to help the child grow stronger and be able to come home."_

 _One has to wonder why too early deliveries occur; with having three normal-run pregnancies, and deliveries, and with having been told that she was on schedule for her current pregnancy, Mrs. Vile-Surfeit shouldn't of had such an early end to her pregnancy or such a difficult delivery of her youngest child—or so says some. According to historians, and medical professionals, too-early births and difficult deliveries happen all the time and, usually, it happens more often after the third child has been conceived and then born. According to historians, who've done deep research on the Surfeit family line, too-early births and difficult births have happened in the past with the Surfeits._

 _Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit's grandfather, KurukVile Shonsinu Surfeit, was born at six and a half months gestation; though being sick for the first fifty years of his life it's said that, once he got to being fully healthy, he stayed healthy. Going back further in the line, Elga Ifica Shaar, the mother of DuruVile Bolushi Surfeit, who's Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit's great-grandfather, died two weeks after giving birth to her only surviving child—Egla Ifica Shaar passed away after contracting a bout of Puerperal Fever, which her great-great granddaughter also gained after giving birth to her second child, LhaklarVile Closhu Surfeit. The great-great-great grandmother of Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit, Frahfrie Cloridona, is also on record for having experienced a difficult delivery of a child—her son, ShaamVile Kondee Surfeit, who's Mrs. Vile-Surfeit's great-great grandfather, was born after staying in the womb for nearly ten months; it's said that his mother had to be cut for him to safely pass through her._

 _Continuing with the historical aspects of the Surfeit family, it's very well-known that Mrs. Surfeit carries a double line to the Surfeit's—her grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great grandparents, and so on are all listed in her pedigree twice. This occurred after her father, Master Vile, had relations with one named Helen of Earth, who, unbeknown to him, was also a descendant of his father._

 _Those more concerned with the medical aspects of what happened pin the presence of Mrs. Vile-Surfeit's double pedigree as the cause for the too-early delivery of her new son—the claim of her double pedigree causing her uterus to not be as strong as that of one who doesn't have a double pedigree to them seems to be right strong in this assumption on what caused the too-early birth of Mrs. Vile-Surfeit's baby to occur. Others say that the blame is on Mrs. Vile-Surfeit having a baby too soon after her previous pregnancy came to a close—Mrs. Vile-Surfeit's two, older sons have a hundred years between them in age and so do her two younger sons._

 _With the history behind KurukVile Shonsinu Surfeit's birth, and later galactic doings, known many are wondering if history's repeating itself with a premature baby being born in the Surfeit clan who could well become the next conquering terror. Many are also wondering if this baby will be the final one born to the pair who made him. Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit is said to be doing well after giving birth and so are her other children; her husband, TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit, is also said to be doing well._

 _From the Iabrone Gizzette, March 11, 2499 (Page 2)  
_ _Premature Surfeit Baby Headed Home, Fears Still Great_

 _The act of a couple taking their new baby home is said to be just as joyous as the birth of the baby itself; for the Surfeit family, there is no joy or excitement involved in the homecoming of their newest member, who was born prematurely nearly four weeks ago. The scare for this family, which started at around one o'clock, after Mrs. Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit, the Universal Wife of TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit, and the daughter and Family Mate of the M-51 Galaxy's ruler, Vile Vile, who's better known far and wide as Master Vile, found that her water had broken on her during her descent down one of the staircases in her husband's home, is still on-going._

 _The hospital that any expecting woman is admitted to is suppose to provide care for both expecting mother and newborn baby; according to some sources, the professionals that work the hospital that Mrs. Vile-Surfeit was taken to didn't give adequate enough care to her tiny newborn—Mr. Surfeit, it is said, gave the hospital an estimated one billion dollars with the hopes that they'd keep looking after his son and for them to keep his son in the NICU. It seems that the doctors had gotten enough of the man because, earlier today, a car owned by Mr. Surfeit was seen as being parked before the hospital. Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit was spotted as leaving the hospital a few minutes after the car was parked; she had a small bundle with her that's been confirmed by both hospital staff and family as being the infant that she gave birth to prematurely. LazeerVile Zuluduz Surfeit, the newborn Surfeit, is being reported as still looking rather ill and weak upon his discharge from the hospital_

 _"We did all that we could... there was just no use in our going into further care of the infant born to the two of them." the doctor who was in charge of the young infant Surfeit's care said upon being questioned about the dismissal of the young infant. "Sadly, he wasn't doing much in growth, or in movement, so we decided that, in good retrospect with the Surfeit family, we should send him home."_

 _TazirVile Surfeit has been reported as saying that he has plans to sue the hospital for their discontinuing the care needed for his son and for all the headaches that they caused both he and his wife to go through during the three and a half weeks that their son was in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The doctors at Cawanuuk Hospital have given the young Surfeit baby only two days to live before he succumbs to his too-early birth and still weakened state. The only ones who stayed at the young infant's side are said to be his parents, his grandfather, Cheshire Ubalki, and TazirVile Surfeit's neighbor and good friend, Gloar Rovnitov_.

"I'm glad that their "predictions" with you weren't proved correct," Angel said after reading the two articles and then turning the album's page over. "I'd be lacking you if what they had said would happen happened."

"Dad put all of that money into the hospital and they still sent me away?" Lazeer asked. "They should of given me care without needing to be paid to do so."

"Closer-lying hospitals aren't always the best of hospitals to go to." Angel said. "You, and your brothers, won't ever step foot in Cawanuuk Hospital again."

 _From the Moas Huround, June 14, 2499 (Page 1)  
_ _DISAPPEARED: Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit And Sons Discovered Missing_

 _In the event of a normal disappearance, one wouldn't see an article like this being written or put in the paper; due to the history of one of the noted missing persons, this article, along with the broadcasts that have been done over the last four hours, has to be written._

 _Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit was known six hundred years ago to be one who would never settle down; she, for several years, forced her family to drop their lives to both chase and tame her down. After several years on the run, and after giving birth to two children, she seemed to of settled down—Mr. TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit, the woman's Universal Husband, is said to be the one who tamed this said-to-be untameable woman. Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit was said to be very happy between her final capture and now; the claim of her having given herself to her Universal Husband was made by both herself and her husband and by various members of their family—one has to wonder if she's decided to become unsettled again because, as of this early morning, the woman, along with all of her sons, one being very ill from being born prematurely at five and a half months gestation, was discovered as being missing from the place that she called home._

 _"She seemed fine the day before... maybe a little distant, yes, but she gave no signs on wanting to go anywhere." TazirVile Surfeit said after being questioned about his wife's, and their sons', disappearance. "I woke up this morning to discover that she and all of the boys are missing... I can't describe how I feel right now. It's surreal... I don't want it to be real but it is."_

 _Space traffic has been put to a near-halt all over; motorists are being questioned; everyone in the Surfeit family has been questioned; and most everyone who works for TazirVile Surfeit has been interviewed on what they know of what the past day's events were like for Mrs. Vile-Surfeit. Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit gave birth four months ago to a premature baby, who was swiftly named LazeerVile Zuluduz Surfeit; against all odds, he made it past the hospital's reputed two days that was claimed for his survival period._

 _The thought of her growing overly stressed over the events of the last four months and then coming up with the idea of grabbing her four sons and then disappearing for a while before returning has been thought by many. Many are hoping that this thought is true._

 _From the Zostriri Werd, June 17, 2499 (Page 1)  
_ _Master Vile Cited As Cause For Daughter's And Grandsons' Disappearance_

 _The Universe, a few days ago, was stunned to discover that the wayward daughter of Vile Vile, the ruler of the M-51 Galaxy, which neighbors our own, who's better known far and wide as Master Vile, disappeared along with her four sons, one being rather weak after being born prematurely—the Universe is now in further disbelief after discovering the reputed cause for the disappearance. An employee of TazirVile Surfeit, the Universal Husband of Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit, and the son-in-law of Master Vile, told of how a phone call from Master Vile had sparked a fierce fight between the two during an interview a few days ago—sources say that the two had other telephone conducted conversations on the day before the noted disappearance that were just as fiery as the one that's being called the main reason to why Mrs. Vile-Surfeit left with her four sons. Soon after hearing what had happened on the phone, and about the fights that had happened between the two, a search was quickly called up to find Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit and her sons. Master Vile wasn't available for comment but has been said to be apart of the search._

Angel turned the pages slowly; she learned of how her father had checked through his galaxies for only her and Bile—while he had also looked for Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer he had done so only half-heartily, which was no surprise to her. Her father had never accepted nor allowed for her sons by Tazir to call him their grandfather much less be called his grandchildren—the Zostriri _Werd_ article had come from the planet Zostriri, which was in the nearby YLV 42C Galaxy. Her grandfather had accepted Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer as his nephews, and her great-grandfather had accepted her sons by Tazir as his grandchildren, while her father had just plain refused to do so. In regards to her sons by Tazir, her father had treated them like crap. If Lhaklar had so much as spoken to the man the man would simply stick his nose in the air and then walk away; one time, when Lhaklar had actually asked the man to hold him, the man had sniffed before "pushing" him over to his back and then walking away.

Her father had been fully against Bile playing and rough-housing with Lhaklar and he had also been against Bile calling Lhaklar his brother. At one time, her father had wanted her to abandon Bile—to just leave him in the desert. He had wanted to make a "better son"; she had never let him have the opportunity to do so—even when he had raped her during the week that she had been at his place she hadn't given in. She had used a spell to make herself become infertile just to prevent the man from making her have another child by him.

Angel turned the pages, going from two to nine in a little under two minutes; after reaching the tenth page, she stopped then started reading. Her sons did the same as she.

 _From the Ionov Citizen Bungle, June 11, 2500 (Page 1)  
_ _One Year—Angel Irene And Sons Still Missing_

 _A year ago today it was reported that five members of one of the most prominent families in the M-51 Galaxy went missing—despite intense searches, interviews, and thousands of broadcasts, the woman and her sons haven't been found or returned home. While most of the Universe's population has gone back to its usual life the Surfeit clan hasn't. Many of the womenfolk have remained home, to look after the house, and the children that live in the house, while the menfolk are conducting searches that have, so far, garnered nothing but attention. The planets in Vile Vile's conquered galaxies (the Betta, the Dark, and the M-51, the latter being his and his family's galaxy of birth and origin) have all been searched with no results being found. The galaxies, and the lone planet, that KurukVile Surfeit has in his possession have also been searched with no results being found and the same goes for the galaxies that are under control by DuruVile Surfeit, ShaamVile Surfeit, and TrobrencusVile Surfeit. One has to wonder if, possibly, Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit and her four children didn't just disappear but were kidnapped._

 _"No, that's impossible. My place is locked up tight—nothing, not even a rat, can get in." TazirVile Surfeit, the Universal Husband of Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit, and the biological father of three of the four missing boys, said after being asked if his wife and sons had been kidnapped._

 _The Surfeit clan are now broadening their search to include other areas in the Universe—to the known planets and galaxies that are on record._

The next few pages had nothing more than articles of the stitch-up sort—articles that had maybe a new sentence or a new detail or two included among a bunch of recycled material—on them; she merely flipped the pages before putting the book down. The next book that she took up she wasn't looking forward to opening—it was like an inner voice was telling her that the articles that were contained in the book were full of sorrow and that she didn't want to read or concern herself with the words that had been written in them. In the end, it was her secondborn son who opened the book and then started the process of their taking in the articles that were in it. Unlike the first book, this one had no name-tag or title on it; it was as blank as could be.

 _From the Gamma Vile Entreprise, April 18, 2699 (Page 1)  
_ _Master Vile Returns Home, Declares Search Over_

 _The Universal search for Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit, and for her four sons, began two hundred years ago; along with the whole of her family the eyes of many in the Universe were on the look-out for either her or for her sons. As of this afternoon, one of the people who took heavy interest in the search for the missing persons in his family dropped out of the search; Master Vile, the ruler of our galaxy, took to the podium, that was placed before the front gate of his palace home, then said that his involvement in the search was over and that it was very evident that his missing loved ones weren't to be found or returned home._

 _"My heart's heavy with this conference but I decree on this day that my daughter, and my wife, and our eight hundred year old son are gone and that my presence in the search that's being conducted for them is over." the man said after taking to the podium. "If the two were alive, or were around in the Universe, me and mine would of known about it and they would of been found and then returned to their prior station. With no evidence of their being anywhere, and with there being no sightings of them, it's quite obvious that they are gone and that they won't be returning home."_

 _A full day of silence was announced soon after he announced that his involvement in the search was to be put to an end; Rita Repulsa, Rito Revolto, and Lord Zedd, the two older children and the son-in-law of our ruler, dropped out of the search for their missing loved ones six months ago. Master Vile's father, KurukVile Surfeit; grandfather, DuruVile Surfeit; great-grandfather, ShaamVile Surfeit; and great-great uncle, TrobrencusVile Surfeit, are still searching for and are still hoping to find Mrs. Vile-Surfeit and her four sons. TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit and his entourage, consisting of Ashaklar Ubalki, née Zoopray, and her husband, Cheshire Ubalki, and their children, and QeetaVile Tintissi Surfeit, are also still heavily involved in looking for their missing loved ones. The rest of Master Vile's aunts and uncles, and his two siblings, Dara Dara Surfeit and Triskull Surfeit, are also still searching and clinging to the hope that their missing loved ones are out there and that they will be found and then returned home._

 _From the Beglilles Taphloz Juynol, August 19, 2699 (Page 2)  
_ _TrobrencusVile Surfeit Returns Home_

 _The citizens of the M-51 Galaxy are still reeling after learning of their ruler's cease involvement in the search for his daughter and Family Mate, Angel Irene; now, four months and one day after Master Vile's cease in looking for his daughter and their one child was made known to the public, another shock rocks the citizens of the galaxy—TrobrencusVile Bloym Surfeit, the lone-surviving son of IackVile Uovo Surfeit and Birava Yamubabba, announced that he was dropping out of the search for his missing family members late last night. This early morning, he was noted as appearing and then going into his castle home; he spoke none of his cease involvement in the search, he just went into his home and then locked the door behind him._

 _From the Gamma Vile Deespatch, November 12, 2699 (Page 2)  
_ _DuruVile Surfeit Says No More, Returns Home_

 _While there's a possibility that it's just fate that called DuruVile Bolushi Surfeit, the son of ShaamVile Kondee Surfeit and Egla Ifica Shaar, home there's also a claim of a threat being made that could also be the cause for his waving the white flag of surrender on the search for his missing family members._

 _DuruVile Surfeit, the man who did so much in looking for Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit, his great-granddaughter, and her four sons, one being his great-grandson while the others being his grandsons, has been reported to of received a phone call late last afternoon from his wife, who disclosed that she and their children may not be found as being in his home if he continued with the search. It's possible that it's time for the wounds to be healed; if Mrs. Vile-Surfeit, and her sons, were to be found they would of been found long before now. Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit, and her four sons, disappeared without a trace two hundred years ago; they are still missing._

 _From the Moas Interpretor, October 30, 2799 (Page 1)  
_ _A Shocker: ShaamVile Surfeit and Company Call It Quits_

 _In a shocking turn of events, the call to end the search for their missing loved ones was done by our planet's ruler, Master Vile, and by his great-great uncle, TrobrencusVile Bloym Surfeit, and then by his grandfather, DuruVile Bolushi Surfeit; it looks like the bulk of the Surfeit family have followed in their footsteps a hundred years later._

 _ShaamVile Kondee Surfeit, the son of RaalVile Dawlur Surfeit and Frahfrie Cloridona, and the nephew of TrobrencusVile Bloym Surfeit, called his efforts in looking for Mrs. Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit off early yesterday morning; he, along with all of the ones who joined him in his attempts to find his missing loved ones, returned home late yesterday afternoon. None of the returned Surfeits, or their kinsmen and women, have said anything on why they decided to drop out of the search. ShaamVile Surfeit was said to be very close to Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit; along with mailing one another correspondence, and speaking on the phone almost continuously every week, they also saw one another periodically. His exit of the search is a great shock, and is said to be the main cause for the search being called to a permanent stop in the coming months to years to come._

 _There are now just five Surfeits involved in the search; TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit, the leader and husband and father of the missing Surfeit family members, and his two siblings, KurukVile Shonsinu Surfeit and QeetaVile Tintissi Surfeit, and his niece and nephew, TriskullVile Surfeit and Dara DaraVile Surfeit. The Ubalki clan, consisting of Ashaklar Ubalki, née Zoopray, and her husband, Cheshire Ubalki, and their children, are also still heavy participants to the search._

"Your father would, naturally, be the first to leave the search." Angel said to Bile. She closed the book; the article on her great-great grandfather leaving the search was the only one of real interest to her and her sons, and it had also been the final entree in the book. With the book now being closed, she placed it on the table then grabbed the one that had been underneath it. With a sigh, she opened the book then started reading.

Most of the articles in the third book were repeats—recycled material that was published as a means to keep the public's interest or, in this case, to keep the search for her and her sons going. As she already knew, Tazir had searched Earth; he had sent his Goblins into the shields to look for her and her sons then he had called them out after one of the plagues had set in—an article on this was in the book, but it was one of the final-placed articles that had been clipped and then kept for its value. After looking through the third book, she closed it then placed it on the table; the fourth book that she took up was a near-repeat of the third one. She put the fourth book on the table soon after taking it up then she took the final one that was on the stack up. She opened the book right after placing it on her lap.

 _From the Moas Chrunicler, May 12, 3299 (Page 1)  
_ _KurukVile Surfeit Declares Angel Irene and Sons Deceased, Goes Home_

 _It was a shock to all after word was heard that KurukVile Shonsinu Surfeit, the man who was a big contributer to the search for his granddaughter and her sons, was putting a permenant end to his search for his missing family members. KurukVile Surfeit took to the stage that was placed before the capital steps of Deocomos, a planet that's in the Wycos Galaxy, which has been in his control for over three millenia, then he declared that he was both dropping out of the search and that he was emotionally tormented by the decision that he was making in abandoning his missing loved ones. He further declared that his granddaughter, Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit, and her four sons were deceased and were to never return home._

 _"The last seven hundred years have been very hard on me... I, as both a grandfather and brother-in-law, was very attached to Angel." KurukVile said soon after the declaration of his dropping out of the search was done. "All we can hope is that she is forever at peace with her sons and that we can move past the hardship that their disappearance has caused us to go through."_

 _With KurukVile Surfeit, and his two children who accompanied him on his search, TriskullVile Surfeit and Dara DaraVile Surfeit, now out of the search it is now only TazirVile Surfeit, his younger sister, QeetaVile Surfeit, and the Ubalki family that are left to find where their missing family went or are. TazirVile Surfeit claims that he will continue to search for his wife and sons until his dying days._

 _From the Strotatis Taphlod, September 10, 3299 (Page 2)  
_ _TazirVile Surfeit Refuses Death Certificates_

 _From the Zeta Thupsaloff Juynal, October 13, 3299 (Page 2)  
_ _TazirVile Surfeit Refuses To Accept Tombstones In Surfeit Cemetery_

 _From the Thiche Overseer, December 4, 3400 (Page 2)  
_ _Surfeit Family Grows, Possibly Healing_

 _It seems that the Surfeit family has returned to a normal routine after most of their family's removal from the search for Mrs. Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit and her four sons occurred; along with being seen as congregating in certain public areas, and dealing with normal actions such as shopping and dating, there's also been reports of new arrivals coming into the family._

 _According to reports, Rita Repulsa, the oldest daughter of Vile Vile, the man better known as Master Vile, and the man who rules over the M-51 Galaxy, has given birth to her first child—a boy, who was given the name of Thrax. No other offspring have been born through Irka Shaiden, KurukVile Surfeit's wife, or through Cyla Dybla, DuruVile Surfeit's wife, or through Bahne Brotzol, the wife of TrobrencusVile Surfeit; ShaamVile Surfeit, the man who's been proclaimed as being the most eligible bachelor in the Universe, hasn't settled down to finding anyone to become steady with or has married or created any further offspring—though it has been noted that he was seen as dating two women two hundred and three hundred and fifty years ago._

 _"While we're not fully ourselves yet we're getting there. It takes time when events like ours strike for one to heal and then return to normal living." Irka Surfeit, née Shaiden, said when questioned on her family's return to normal life._

 _We all wish the Surfeit's well in their recovery; it's being reported that TazirVile Surfeit, his sister, QeetaVile Surfeit, and the Ubalki family are still searching for Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit and her sons. None of their party has disclosed an interest in dropping out or returning to a normal way of life._

 _From the Uanope Banner, June 16, 3829 (Page 2)  
_ _Woman Who Claimed To Be Angel Irene Flees Moas_

 _In a startling report, the woman who caused a sensation by claiming herself to be the Universe's most sought after missing person, Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit, fled Moas after being declared as being nothing more than a fraud. The woman, who looked very much like the missing Surfeit wife, even having her hair and eye colors, claimed that she ran off after having a verbal altercation with her father; all of the claims that she put out on the air waves were known facts to many but the unknown ones, which are now being known as pure fabrications, seemed to mesh in well with the facts. The claimant said that, soon after running off, her youngest son, LazeerVile Zuluduz Surfeit, died; he was buried in the ocean soon after passing then she and her three surviving sons went to one of the planets in the nearby GR-264 Galaxy, where further hardships awaited them. The woman claimed that she was left as being childless after her oldest child, Bile Vile, passed away after contracting an illness that she wouldn't disclose; a further claim of her trying to commit suicide after the passing of her "lone-remaining" child's passing was made, which was pinned to the reason to why she was lame in her left leg._

 _The woman had everyone on the planet in such a frenzy that she was even called Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit, given lodgings in a high-class apartment, and treated to the finest of meals that the planet's finest restaurants could provide. TazirVile Surfeit, after learning of the woman's claims, rushed over to see her just two days ago; after seeing her, he reeled around then left the area. He said that the woman wasn't his wife thirty minutes after seeing her._

 _"She must of been one because she tore off right after he said that she was an imposter." Veelu Zoghun, who owns the restaurant where the woman was said to have a free pass in eating anything that she wanted, said. "She took off... she must of had a jet in that lame leg of hers—I've never seen anyone run that fast before in my life!"_

 _The woman was swiftly identified as Afata Sliziban, a local woman who had a tendency to fake injuries to gain sympathy and free stuff from unwary patrons. Afata Sliziban was apprehended on the planet Koolaz, which is another planet in the M-51 Galaxy, and was put up on charges of trying to impose a missing person six hours after being noted as being a fraud._

"How long have we been in here?" Hazaar asked. The article on Afata Sliziban had been the last one in the book worth reading; the rest had nothing more than recycled material in them.

"According to the clock that's outside the room, about an hour and twenty minutes." Lhaklar replied.

"Can we go someplace else, momma?" Hazaar asked, he then started begging. "Please... pretty please with gum drops and cherries and—"

"Yes honey, you and your brothers can go do as you please." Angel said. After saying this, she said, "Hazaar, be careful if you look out the window. Only look out the back woh—"

"—ooooo, please don't tell me that you've abandoned me like everyone else has! You're the only ones who've stuck by me! Where are you? What have I done to make you run off? Hello? Hello? Anyone in the apartment? Helllooooo!"

"Momma?" Hazaar asked. His mother had gotten up from the couch suddenly; the final book of articles had fallen from her hands. It was now on the floor, at her feet. She had a very scared look on her face and she looked a bit stiff to him. "Mom!"

It was there one second and then gone the next—the nasally-sounding voice of a male being, who's voice was cracking due to either his youth or hysteria, was heard very briefly before her son's tough-sounding voice, that was clouded in more than enough concern for her, took its place. Once the unknown voice was gone, and once she noticed that her sons looked tense, she shook her shoulders then started the process of collecting the things that Tazir had spell-sent to the room's coffee table. Once all of the books were in her hands, she took them to the bookcase that they had come from.

"Contact via magic and earnesty is one of the first things that's taught to a pupil after he or she starts going to Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic," she thought while putting the picture albums back on the one bookcase that was close to the room's window. "Some contact the ones that they want to talk to or with by simply saying their name, others yell the name of the one that they want to talk to; a small percentage will just think the name of their contactee. Contact via magic and earnesty is usually only done in emergency situations—other than me and my sons, there's no one out there that we know of who both does magic and would consider contacting us via this means."

As far as she knew, no one who was called by this means had never not responded to the one who was trying to get in contact with them; since no further word came from the one that she had just heard, and since she didn't know who it was that she had just heard, she ignored the brief contact. Other than her family members, she knew no one who did magic or who would consider contacting her or one of her children via magic and earnesty; all of her sons' old school buddies had, for the most part, forgotten about her sons, and she had not once spoken to any of the peers that her sons had associated themselves with during their schooling years, so none of their past-schooling chums would be trying to get in contact with her either.

After returning the books to their bookcase, then flashing her eyes around the room once, she turned then gestured for her sons to follow her. They stood from the room's couch then followed her as she left the room; she, who felt a need to be out of the room, led them down the hall to the room that she had joined her husband in for the last two nights. The clear glass, purple-colored door knob, that went to the room, was grabbed and then twisted after she and her sons reached it; with a push, she pushed the door in then went into the room—since she didn't want her sons to grow nervous of the room that they had just entered, and since she didn't want Tazir to become startled after walking down the hallway and then noticing that the door to their chamber was open, she left the door open after they were all inside.

"Mom, are those your pet Sekhems?" Lhaklar exclaimed after seeing the three animals that were lying on the room's bed.

"What _are_ those things?" Hazaar asked.

Except for a few things, the room, to him, looked pretty basic; the first thing that he had noticed was the room's size—it was large... nearly twice the size of a normal master bedroom, which was already large in his standards. The style in this room, while looking elegant and somewhat modern, was Gothic in origin.

A silver-gray painted chandelier, that had light gray colored chains hanging from it, was hanging down from the ceiling's center; each of the room's walls had a wrought iron sconce on them—the candles contained in the sconces looked rather old, but were unlit. The bed that was in the room was huge; while the head and baseboard were black only the headboard had a bat's head on it. The baseboard had fang-like designs on it.

The comforter that was on the bed was right shiny; it was a black and purple color and it looked rather soft and velvet-like in texture. The sheets that were under the comforter were a plain dark purple color. There were seven pillows on the bed—two were normal in size while three others were of the throw variety; the two remaining pillows were small and circular in shape. All of the bed's pillows were encased in dark purple pillow cases that had white tassels on their edges. A gold T and S was stitched on each of the pillow cases. The black bedside table, that was to the left of the bed, had a unique lamp on it; the lamp had one of them metal frame shades, that had glowing green glass in it, on it. The lamp's base looked to be both metal and have oil in it. A book, that had a red spine, but a dark green front and back flap, was beside the lamp; a black alarm clock, that had digital numbers on it, was before the lamp and book.

The black dresser, that was to the left of the room, had a dark purple cloth draped over it; like with any other dresser, this one had a phone and many family-made photographs lining its top. Above the dresser, mounted on the wall, was the head of an animal that had black and gray fur on its face; the spiraling horns, that were between the animal's small ears, were a unique purple color. Like with the room that they had just come from, the room that they were in had a screen in it that hovered on air—it was a few steps away from the bed's foot.

The bookcase, that was of the swayed-over variety, and that was in the room's bottom left corner, had a few things on it—two black glass dragons, three skeletal bats, a dark purple lizard, that had ruby red eyes in its face, a taxidermied Red-bellied pirahna, and a jarred Octopus for starters; the Cigar box, that was on the bookcase's middle shelf, gave him the idea that his father smoked cigars. Above the bookcase, mounted rather tastefully on the wall, was a rather nicely preserved Ceolocanth; to the right of the Ceolocanth was another taxidermied fish—it looked vastly different than the fish that was beside it. It was round, it had sharp teeth in its mouth, and it had spikes running along its back and sides—to him, the spiky fish looked similar to a Puffer fish.

A large, live-motion portrait of glowing, multi-green goo was between the room's dresser and walk-in bathroom; one look at the portrait caused his imagination to run, he found himself as liking the portrait very fast.

The room's walls and carpet were dark purple in color while the ceiling was a light purple color; he wasn't but so surprised over seeing that his bat-obsessed old man had more than one piece of bat decor in the room—along with the three skeletal bats, that were on the room's one bookcase, there was also a framed skeleton of a species of bat hanging on the wall that was to the left of the room's door. From the looks of the skeleton, he was able to note that the animal had been rather young when it died—the small bones had been arranged very well, and they were all present and accounted for.

The second thing that he had seen after entering the room were the three animals that were lying on the bed. The animals looked very much like a skunk; the smaller one, that had white vertical stripes on a black base coat, looked very much like a skunk while the other two were differently colored than the animal that they resembled. All of the animals that were on the bed had collars on them; they had long claws on their feet and small, pointy noses that were either a pink, a light brown, or a mottled pink color. He was taking a step closer to the animals when he noticed that the room's other side had stuff on it too.

"No surprise over seeing that there's a cat tree in here," Hazaar thought after seeing the tall structure that a cat would normally use. The cat tree was tall and wide; it looked much like an oak tree, but it had all sorts of openings and platforms on it to accommodate the animals that used it. A box of animal toys was to the left of the structure while, to its right, were six ceramic bowls.

A walk-in closet was to the right of the room's bed; a few steps from the cat tree was a black oak vanity, that had several bottles of perfume, a makeup kit, and a vase that had three red roses in it on it. A matching stool sat before the vanity. Beside the vanity was a rather impressive armoire; except for its black and gold coloration, it was very normal in appearance. It didn't take him and his brothers long to figure that the room's right side was their mother's; their father had obviously split the room in half to accommodate both his and their mother's interests.

"Ma..." Lazeer said after seeing that his mother had taken a seat on the room's bed. All three of the skunk-like animals had gotten up and then crawled over to her; they were all on her lap now. "Mom, what're them animals on your lap? Are they skunks or... what?"

"No. They're not skunks—there's no scent glands on them." Angel replied. "These are Sekhems, Lazie. A domesticated animal that acts like a Ferret but that looks like a skunk. They don't bite unless provoked, they don't scratch, and they're easy to tame."

"C-can I pet one?" Lazeer asked timidly.

"Of course." Angel said. The one that she maneuvered had creamy white and lemon-brown fur on it; the nose was a mottled pink color. Lazeer, after hearing that he could pet one of the animals, went over to the bed. He sat down then went to pet the animal that had just been maneuvered. "This is Zeox—my first Sekhem."

"What's the names of the other two?" Lazeer asked. After petting the animal named Zeox, he noted that the animal's fur was really soft.

"Exutho is the fully brown one," Angel replied. "Elaye is the little girl... the one that—"

"Looks like a skunk." Lazeer said.

"Man, I have some weird parents." Bile said. The heads of his mother and brothers jerked up; they gave him a shocked look. "What? One of my parents likes bats while the other likes skunks. Two very different animals."

"Don't forget the fish now."

Lazeer jumped after hearing the voice that belonged to none other than his father. He looked in all directions after hearing the voice then, after his eyes locked on the motion-animated goo portrait, he came close to yelling—his father, who looked to of just gotten through with a session in the gym, slid out of the portrait. The man, after coming out of the portrait, remained on one knee for a second before standing; the dark green tuxedo, that he had been wearing earlier, was lacking its jacket and medium green vest. After a few seconds passed, he saw that both items were draped over his father's arm. The white shirt, that had lace-like belled cuffs on the ends of its sleeves, was damp in the armpit, chest, and back regions while the inner thighs of the tuxedo's pants were more than a little wet. He looked at the lace cravat tie, that was around the man's neck, for a few seconds before training his attention to the man himself.

"Lazeer!" Angel whispered after her son's attention became absorbed in his father. After jumping, his hand had become bunched over a section of fur that was on Zeox's back; working fast, she freed her pet, who looked more than willing to bite her son. Once her pet was free of her son's grip, she sent him on his way.

Before leaving the room, that all of the stuff pertaining to his search for her and her sons was in, Tazir had said that he'd be in his office; before entering the chamber that they were all in, she had figured that he was still in that room—it was very apparent now that the man hadn't been in his office. He had been in the room, that ran off the secret tunnel, that was in the downstairs study, instead.

The room that he had come from had been built over fifty thousand years ago; her husband mostly went to the room when he wanted to train with his Elemental powers—on occasion, he'd also use the room to train with his Acidic and Energy powers too. The motion-animated portrait had a slide-like tunnel behind it that was only used after her husband decided that his session in his private work-out room was done.

When she stood to address her husband her pets scrambled over to Lazeer; they jumped onto his lap at once, which gave him a sudden startle. Her youngest son very narrowly missed being bit by the younger of her pets, who he had grabbed in an attempt to get off of him.

"Haven't I told you to not use the gym while wearing your good clothes?" Angel said. Bile detected the notes of a tease in his mother's voice.

"I do believe I plumb forgot, my dear wife." TazirVile replied. He gave his sons a nod then said, "How long have you and the boys been in here?"

"Few minutes, hope you don't mind." Angel said. "Been in your "museum" reading up on the articles in the books that you moved from the bookcase to the table for a while—we needed a break."

"I don't mind, my love." TazirVile said after getting an explanation on why his family wasn't in the room where all of the articles, photographs, and taped broadcasts were in. After saying this, he turned to address his sons. "How're you four doing?"

"Rather well." Bile replied.

"Good," Hazaar said.

"Okay," Lazeer said.

"Same as them." Lhaklar said.

The Silencer spell hadn't been done in the room so they could hear the storm, which seemed to of gotten worse during their time spent in the room that their father had led them to. Hazaar could hear the tell-tale sounds of both rain and hail pelting the room's window, which looked to open up on a balcony; due to both the inner drapes, that were black and heavy in appearance, and the outer drapes, that were a dark purple color, and that looked to be made out of a very thin material, being half open he was able to see some of what was going on outside. He was giving it a good consideration about going to the window and then looking out it; his father, who must of known what he was thinking, beat him to the window before he had a chance to go to it—the drapes were pulled then his father turned to face him and his family.

The three Sekhems were fast in leaving Lazeer's lap after the window was blocked; they ran over to the cat tree then started climbing it. The three animals had just reached one of the tree's many platforms when a loud thunderclap was heard.

"Should I do the spell that'd make the storm's procured sounds not be able to be heard?" TazirVile asked. His hands were currently working the cravat tie from around his neck; it looked like he was about to undress himself, which caused him and his brothers to be a bit grossed out.

"No, we're fine." Angel said. "Hazaar has a big interest in weather, specifically storms. He's more interested in them than his brothers are."

"That's not true—I like storms as well, ma." Bile said, then added. "Just not as obsessed over them as Hazaar is."

"Are you saying that I'm storm obsessed?" Hazaar asked in a snap-like manner.

"When we were on Earth, your face became glued to the window after a storm started." Bile said, then added, "And, by my saying glued, I mean it. Ma had to drag him away from the windows when a storm came through."

"That's not true!" Hazaar snapped.

"Bile, Hazaar, not in the room please." Angel said. A verbal fight had been about to happen between the two; she had come in to prevent that from happening. "If you two are going to fuss and fight, do so outside, in the hallway, or in the gym."

Seeing as they had just been given their cue on leaving the room, they took it. Bile and Hazaar left the room first; they went a distance down the hallway before stopping and then turning to engage one another in conversation on who liked storms and who was obsessed over them. Lhaklar decided to go downstairs, to the gym that was on one of the hallways that came off the one that ran off the foyer. Lazeer followed him for a spell before deciding to do as he had wanted to do that morning—which was to explore the house a little more.

Bile, after concluding his conversation with Hazaar, went down to the gym; he wasn't but so surprised over seeing that Lhaklar had beat him to the room a few minutes after his descent down the stairs occurred. Just as Bile was starting in on the gym's various equipment, Eldass decided to leave the area that he was working in. The window that he was keeping in his near-imminent vicinity had become fogged over so it was either he move to a different portion of the house, so he could keep his eye on the property's back, or he run the risk of getting snapped at for not doing as he had been told to do earlier.


	11. Chapter 11

While he loved and respected his mother he did have to agree with what Bile had said on their having weird parents. To him, his and his brothers' parents were very opposite of one another—the style was enough to say this while the animals that they kept as pets was really the cincher on how different they were.

His father was loaded with dough and, judging by the house, looked to prefer a life that was full of extravagance; his mother, he knew, was one for a more normal, simple lifestyle—she might like and enjoy a few extravagant-like things from time to time but she wasn't one who liked getting overly pampered or be thrown one extravagant thing after another on a day-in to day-out basis. He guessed that the animals that they owned told of how gender-opposite they were—his father owned a mostly male-interested animal that was mostly hairless, that could carry rabies, and that ate insects, while his mother owned a mostly female-interested animal that was covered in soft fur, that was cute and cuddly, and that looked to be domesticated—but why would his father pick a bat to be a pet? What was so masculine about an animal that did nothing but sleep during the daytime hours then fly about, searching for insects, at night?

Before following his brother to the old man's office yesterday, he had been told a few things that revolved around the care and sometimes daily activities that occurred with the bats. Along with being the only one to feed and care for them the man also went into their cages and enclosures—he let his animals fly around him, and sometimes even land on him, and he sometimes took to sitting on the floor of the cage or enclosure that he went into. Bats were on record for generating a lot of guano a day so, whenever his father sat down, or allowed a bat to land on him, he was allowing for any of the bat-generated bacterias to get on him... plus, he was also allowing for shit to get on him. Before being told this, he had figured that his father was one of them clean freaks who screamed after getting a speck of dirt or a tiny bit of dust on them; after being told this... well, his perception of the man being a "clean freak" was no longer present. He had honestly been disgusted after learning the antics of his father after he entered his pets' cages and enclosures.

Seeing as he had nothing better to do, and seeing as Lazeer had taken to following him after seeing him descend from the foyer's left-side stairwell, he took his brother to the hallway that the bats were on. Lazeer looked at the two enclosures; he made a few comments on what he was saying then he said something about wanting to leave the hallway—he was fast in figuring that the dry, scratchy sounds, that the bats were making while flying about in their enclosures, had made him grow a bit tense. After getting the cue to leave the hallway, he led his brother down the hallway then made a turn.

"Was it dad who said something about us "not forgetting the fish" or was it mom?" Lazeer asked after they had gone halfway down the hallway that he had led them to.

"Huh?"

"Upstairs, in their room—someone said something about us not forgetting the fish. Who was it?" Lazeer clarified his question.

"I have no idea—I'm more concerned about our mother at the moment." Hazaar said. Before he could muster the strength to stop himself from saying it he said, "She's never acted like that before."

"Like what?" Lazeer asked. "What're you—"

"Remember how she shot up from the couch in that one room then dropped the book that she was holding?" Hazaar asked. Lazeer nodded his head. "She acted like something had scared her or something."

"Probably saw a spider clinging to, or crawling across, the back of the book that she was holding—you know how she is with spiders." Lazeer said.

And, with the room being used as a sort of museum, he could see how a spider could of been on the final photo album's back. Spiders were notoriously famous for popping up in places that things were stored in, and in buildings that certain items were displayed in—a museum, one time, about three years ago, had to close its doors after one of its visitors came across a nest of Brown recluse spiders in one of its back wings and, six months after that occurred, another museum was condemned after a nest of numerous species of spiders was discovered as being in its attic and walls. As long as spiders, and their insect cousins, were outside, in their natural environments, momma was fine with them; if a normal insect was seen as being in the house, she'd evict it by scooping it up in a cup and then hand-delivering it outside... if a spider was seen as being in the house... well, a scream would be heard then Bile would be called to "take care" of it.

He remembered the incident that occurred two hundred and thirteen years ago very well; he, Lhaklar, and Lazeer had been at home, on vacation from the University of Telepathy at the time, and momma had been busy in tending a bushel of apples that had come from one of the local farming stands. A big, yellow spider had been seen as crawling from the inside of an apple, that she had been reaching to pick up at the time—a loud-ass scream had been heard then that apple had gone sailing across the room; Bile had done the "honors" of killing the spider and of taking said apple up and then disposing of it. Another time, about fifty years later, when he and his brothers had been on another school-done vacation, momma had screamed herself raw after seeing a big brown spider crawling across the floor of the bathroom that had been in the apartment that they had been living in at the time. Bile, who had just come into the apartment, had run up to see what it was that she was so freaked out over; after a few seconds of garbled speech, he had deduced that she had seen a spider in the apartment's one bathroom. Bile, who had "a way" of dealing with the dismissal of the noted spiders that were in the housings that they lived in, had cracked his knuckles after deciphering her garbled speech; a lot of yelling, screaming, cursing, and sounds of porcelain and wood breaking, had been heard after he entered the bathroom that the alleged arachnid had been seen in.

Most of the time, after he "took care" of the spiders that their mother saw and then flipped out over, he'd just come out of the room that the arachnid had been seen in, then hold a small, blackish-brown bundle up, and then say that he had taken care of the arachnid trespasser and that he had also sent a message to the arachnids residing outside of their apartment to not trespass or spook their mother—he had done this after the big brown spider had been "disposed of"; the spiders mustn't of gotten his message because, a week later, a repeat of the bathroom incident occurred. As always, the rooms that Bile destroyed while going after the arachnid that had dared to spook their mother were repaired about an hour to two hours after the spider was killed.

He and his brothers still joked about how spooked their mother was over spiders; any other bug known on the planet didn't bother her... it was just spiders that she was scared of.

He was just remembering another incident where a spider was "dismissed" from their home when loud clap of thunder was heard; this thunderclap caused the mansion to "shake" for a second and it also caused him and his brother to come to an abrupt stop.

"Where's a window? I need to look outside!" Hazaar said excitedly.

"Uhhhh, right there." Lazeer pointed at the window that was a few feet down the hall from them. The window that he was pointing at was small, and circular in shape; it had a short, dark blue curtain hanging over it.

He wasted not a second in going to the window or in drawing the curtain back; no consideration on his part was given to checking if there were reporters around or if he was able to be seen by anyone who was outside—at the moment, all he could care about was looking out the window to see what the storm was doing.

At first, he saw nothing. Despite the fact that it was still morning, it was pitch black outside—this, he knew, meant that the storm was a bad one and that he should be careful of touching the window's glass. After drawing the curtain back, he waited for another lightning strike, which occurred about twenty seconds later—an electric blue band was seen as dropping from the sky, then the entire backyard was lit up, then a loud boom of thunder was heard; he paid no mind to the thunder, he took in what he was allowed to take in of what the back of his father's property looked like quickly.

The backyard was half-covered in what looked to be blue grass; the non-grass covered backyard consisted of rocky terrain that looked both sharp and smooth to the naked eye. The grass-covered yard was fenced off; he saw a huge stable, that looked to run along the far left side of the fenced in side of the yard, and he saw several horse pastures and paddocks both before and to the left and right of it. The farthest pasture had a terrain of half grass and half rock in it; at the moment, it was half-submerged in water. He was wondering what was in the stable when another lightning bolt was seen—with his father being as wealthy as he was, there might just be horses or cows, or goats or sheep, or some sort of weird alien animal housed in the structure. With his father being as rich as he was, he could see him as having more than two of each of them animals in the structure.

The thunderclap that followed the second lightning bolt had no more sounded before a pink-colored bolt of lightning zapped down; another portion of the backyard was exposed to him after the third bolt of lightning occurred.

"Momma probably likes them trees." he thought after taking in the tall trees that were in the backyard. The trees' branches were widely spread out; due to the storm's procured winds, the red and pink flowers that were on them were being blown to and fro maniacally.

There were around a dozen or so of them trees in the yard; they were placed sporadically throughout the yard. A line of hedges ran along the fence that was to the left of the stable—when the next bolt of lightning occurred, he was able to see that they closed the small, square section, that was to the left of the stable, off. The fourth bolt of lightning caused him to take in the fact that his father's home was situated near the beach—the ocean went on for miles; at the moment, it was a very choppy, dark blue color. After the fourth bolt of lightning occurred, he was able to see that there was a wrought iron bench and swing set near the shoreline; there looked to be a sort of wrought iron table between the two items.

Another lightning bolt followed on the heels of the last one; this one exposed the rest of the yard to him.

"There's even a garden back there!" he came close to saying.

Or, uh, that's what he thought he saw. There was a break in both the fence and hedges that was to the left of the stable; a row of bushes, that had red roses on them, ran around a large area that looked to have a set of yellow lights in it. There were paths leading away from each of the pastures and paddocks and there were paths that led to unknown regions of the yard that ran along the mansion's right side. A concrete structure looked to be near the beach and, close to it, a sort of pier was present. A sort of cave, that looked to have a wooden door on it, was very close to the ocean—the waves were battering the door crazily; he was fast in thinking that the structure was flooded on the inside thanks to this.

Why his father had gotten a building built so close to the beach was beyond him; he was very curious about the concrete structure, and the cave-like structure, and he was also curious about what was in the area that was flanked by the rose bushes.

When the next bolt of lightning struck, he and his brother, who had since joined him in looking out the window, were able to see the ocean as it slammed into the lowest-lying pasture. The water came close to swallowing the pasture completely before pulling back.

"Last night, before we went to bed, Lhaklar said that what's going on outside is something similar yet not similar to a hurricane—think he needs to pick up a book on them storms because this doesn't look or resemble or come anywhere near to resembling a hurricane." Lazeer thought while looking out the window.

He had seem some pretty spectacular lightning bolts in his life... what he was seeing, and what the storm was producing, was very new to him. He had never seen a storm like this before and he bet that Hazaar would agree with him whole-heartily on this.

The bolts that he was seeing were either a red, an electric blue, a pink, or a white color; the last bolt of lightning that he had seen had been a unique, two-tone green color. He had seen cloud to cloud; cloud to ground; and, most fascinatingly, unattached bolts that seemed to electrify the ocean after coming in contact with it. On just this one observation, he was able to note that there was only a five second window before a thunderclap was heard after a lightning bolt was seen as crashing down from the heavens. The wind was horrible while the rain and hail was even worse—there was no way in hell that this storm resembled or could be considered anywhere near to resembling a hurricane!

Hurricanes usually had a few to couple hour window before dropping in strength or moving on to other areas—this storm had been happening for nearly twenty-four hours and it seemed to be growing stronger by the hour. The winds that were recorded as coming from hurricanes went in one direction—counter-clockwise—until after the eye passed over the area that was being affected by the storm, then the winds blew in the opposite direction. The winds procured from this storm were blowing all over the place—north for a short duration of time then east the next and then west the next and then south the next and so on and so forth. There was no way in hell that this storm was hurricane resembling—it surpassed the storm's known to pass through on Earth by a mile... maybe two to three by conservative opinions.

A bright green explosion of cloud-to-cloud lightning sent him and his brother away from the window; they decided to walk down the hallway after the explosion occurred and they also decided to try to ignore the storm. They had seen enough of it for the time being.

They walked for a short while before stopping at the first door that they came by on the hallway; he wasted precious time in grabbing and then twisting the door knob after stopping before it.

"Locked?" Hazaar asked.

"Very! Can't even twist the... is this a door knob or a piece of art?" Lazeer asked.

The door that they had stopped at was made completely of opaque glass; the knob that was on it was in the shape of a starfish and was gilded. Lazeer thought about using his Telekenetic powers as a way to see what was in the room before deciding to not do so—the old Foggy had put him in the dungeon of his ship once... if he entered a room, or used his powers to see what was in a room that was locked, he might well get worse than that.

Lazeer stepped away from the door then took the initiative to lead his brother around; he was very near to exiting the hallway that the locked door was on when he stopped—the door that he had noticed was made out of very highly polished mahogany wood. It had a very shiny glass knob on it that was shaped like a bat's head. Before he could try the door, to see if it was locked or not, his brother pushed him to the side then reached forward; Hazaar grabbed the glass knob, then twisted it, then pushed the door in. He went into the room after the door was half open.

Lazeer remained in the hallway for a few seconds; before going into the room, he looked to the left and right—to see if anyone was keeping watch of him, or if anyone was coming down the hallway towards him. After entering the room, he very nearly left it—Hazaar was fast in barking at him after seeing that he had left the door to the room open. His action of closing the door seemed very stiff to both himself and his brother, who had since returned to taking in the room's inhabitants.

"I-I thought those bats in the hallway—"

"Apparently not." Hazaar said.

Apparently their father's interest in bats was deeper than that of what they had originally thought it was—the room that they were in had wire-mesh cages in it that bats of various sizes and ages were in. A row of counters was to the left of the room; a section of stacked wire-mesh cages were to its right while, directly before them, was a window that was half-lit. Around a quarter of the cages had paper lining their bottoms; the ones that weren't inhabited by a bat were bare. When he and his brother gave the room's window a closer look, they saw that a specially built enclosure, that looked very similar to that of what was in the Bat Hallway, was in the room; the bats that were flying about in the enclosure were huge, and looked pretty mean in the face and eyes—it took them a short second or two to see that the enclosure housed a colony of large, red-colored bats that had little horns on their heads and a short row of spikes running down their backs.

Hazaar, after taking a step closer to the wire-mesh cages that lined the room's right side, saw that the bats that were in the cages were either sick or injured. The five female bats, that had a pup attached to their underbellies, that were in the cages were very malnourished; the one male bat, that was in the far distant cage, looked to be lacking one of its legs while the bat that was in the cage that was underneath it looked to be favoring a badly injured wing. A quick check of the cabinets that were above the counters told him what the room's purpose was.

"Sick Bat Bay?" Lazeer said in a small, weak voice.

"Must be." Hazaar replied.

"Let's get out of here before the old man comes in and does cartwheels over finding that we've intruded his room." Lazeer said. He turned then tore out of the room; Hazaar followed on his heels.

While their brothers resumed their trek down the hallway, and tried to put as much distance between them and "Sick Bat Bay" as they could, they were getting down and busy with the gym's various work-out equipment. He, after entering the room, had set his sights on a set of 40-pound dumbbells; he had used them for a spell before the red and black striped speed bag grabbed his attention. He was just getting through a rousing session of abusing the speed bag, which he was one to usually call a uvula, due to its uncanny resemblance to one, when Bile entered the room. Bile was fast in doing a four-lap run on the room's track, which wound around the portion of the room that the more upper body work-out equipment was on, before training his attention on a set of weights, that were to the far left of the room.

Surprisingly, yet non-surprisingly, the house's gym looked exactly the same as it had been on the day that he, his mother, and brothers left for Earth. The track that wound around the more upper body work-out equipment still had synthetic dirt on it; the bench was still between the racks that contained the dumbbell and weight sets on them; and the two punching bags, and the one speed bag, were still the same color and had the same wear and tear on them. Most of the walls in the room were made of golden-brown plywood while the floor that the track circled was still made of mocha fossilized eucalyptus wood; the ceiling in most of the room was a light gold color, the beam that ran around its edges kept the room very well lit.

Shortly before their exit of Moas and their return to Earth occurred, a black roman chair, that had dull-ended spikes on it, had been added to the room; the chair was still in the room and it looked to of been put to some use during the time that they hadn't been here. He had given a good thought about trying the chair out, and seeing how long he could endure the uncomfortable feeling that the spikes gave his backside before having to get down from it, before deciding to just concentrate on "wakening" the muscles that were in his arms. The two ropes, that were hanging from the room's ceiling, were new to the room but he hadn't gone near them and that went double for the one handbar that had spikes on it—Ye Olde Man must of crossed over in the mental department; he couldn't see a soul using or wanting to use the spiked handbar for any sort of exercise.

That was all that was on this side of the gym; the gym's other side, which use to be a whole separate gym at one time in the mansion's long history, had nothing but strenuous exercise equipment in it. A treadmill, that's belt rose at an angle every thirty or so seconds, was the first of the room's equipment that he had looked at. The treadmill that had a helmet on it, that projected all sorts of images to the runner, who needed to avoid them in order for the treadmill's belt to continue being run at its current pace, had been the second piece of equipment that he had looked at. The unicycle, that was forged in place, was new—he could see one doing pull-ups while using that piece of equipment. A normal treadmill, and a normal exercise bike, was beside the unicycle—these were old pieces to the room.

One of the walls in the adjacent room had a series of grooves, hand holds, and door knobs on it; the ceiling in the adjacent room had them same things on it—this was also an old piece to the room. He had given it a good consideration about using the climbing wall after putting the dumbbells down—if not for the "uvula" catching his eye, he would of donned the vest, that had a rope and two bungee cords attached to it, and then gone to town in seeing how high he could go up it.

He had no more decided to end his resumed session in punching the "uvula" when his attention was pulled in Bile's direction; Bile, who had since placed a 50-pound weight on one of the ends of the weight bar, was in the process of lugging another 50-pound weight to the bar. He watched as his brother placed the weight on the bar, then applied the clamps, that would keep the two weights steady on the bar, to the bar then took his place on the bench before deciding to go over to see and speak with him.

"A hundred and thirty pounds?" Lhaklar shook his head; with seeing his brother lugging a 50-pound weight to the bar, he had figured that he'd find him as lifting an even one hundred pounds—the clamps, he saw, had added an extra thirty pounds to the bar. He was wondering where his brother had gotten the two weighted clamps from when he suddenly remembered that his father, about thirty to thirty-five years before their exit of Moas occurred, had purchased several 10, 20, and 30-pound clamps from one of the places that he purchased his work-out equipment from. Bile had issues in lifting anything that was over a hundred and twenty pounds and it looked like he was having a little trouble in lifting what was on the bar. "Think you're asking for trouble? That's a lot of weight for y—"

"Hush up—you'll make me lose count if you continue jowling me." Bile said while pushing the weight up and then allowing it to fall back to nearly his chest. "One of these days I'll have to graduate from my measly one hundred and twenty pound regiment, why not start now?"

"Need a spotter or—"

"I would say that he does."

Due to their not knowing that anyone was in their immediate vicinity, Bile gasped then dropped the weight that he was lifting; Lhaklar, thinking fast, grabbed the weight before it had a chance to crash to his brother's chest. The both of them moved the weight to the stationed bar that'd keep it steady until its next use before turning to take in the one who had spoken.

The Goblin, they saw, was half-in, half-out of the gym; his white tuxedo was very crisp and clean and it did seem to go well with his hair color, which was as pristine white as could be. It took them a second or two to realize that the light blue skinned Goblin, who had light blue eyes in his face, which was poked with more than enough wrinkles on it, and which sported a long nose that had large nostrils on it, was Eldass Zultoa, their father's second Most Trusted Butler; after noting who it was that was in the gym, they nodded their heads then went their separate ways. Bile returned to lifting the weight while his brother grabbed two dumbbells then started using them.

The Goblin entered the room silently; the entrance to the room was full of both confidence, experience, and curiosity. Bile had only just pushed the weight up for the fourth time when the Goblin appeared beside him.

"Your father would probably prefer for you to not lift anything over what you are now, Sir." the Goblin said after looking at the weights, that were on the steel bar, that Bile was lifting up.

"Not planning on adding anymore weight to it." Bile replied while pushing the weight up for the fifth time. "Hoping to add an additional ten to twenty pounds to what I'm lifting in the next few weeks to month or so."

"Young Master Bile! For one your age you shouldn't be considering the option of lifting anything over a hundred and thirty pounds." the Goblin's voice, though elevated, had a calm and confident tone to it.

Yeah yeah, he could hear it now. He was big for his age; he had more muscle that what he should; and he should slow it up and not try to grow up so fast—he had heard this and more from other concerned people, both parents and not parents, and he had also seen and heard his mother being gotten on for how she allowed him and his brothers to live their lives. One time, when he had asked his mother if she thought he was overdoing it in the muscle department, she had come back as saying that he was fine and that she was fine with how his life was going for him. A small lecture on where he had gotten his body build from, and on where his muscles had come from, had been given before she had praised him on having a good head on his shoulders.

The male members of his family were usually headstrong, tall, and big in muscle; she had shown no concern over his work-out regiment or about his packing on enough muscle to be the two hundred and fifty pounds that he was. She cautioned him to be careful whenever he was working out but she never told him to stop working out or drop a certain exercise that he did. _If you're happy with how you look then why bother in listening to others_ , she had asked him after he had asked her, yet again, if he was too over-muscled or big in body—no more questions on his body build or muscle mass had been asked by him after that had been said; he had accepted that she was fine with who he was and with what he looked like.

After lifting the weight an additional ten times, he set it down then got up from the bench; he removed his shirt in one fluid movement then he went over to one of the room's treadmills—the one that's belt rose every so often was what he wanted to use and that was what he got on and then started to use after his shirt was off of him. The Goblin didn't follow him; he had no more started using the treadmill before hearing the man badgering his brother after he started lifting an eighty pound dumbbell.

"Young Master Lhaklar, please, don't lift but so much weight with one arm." the Goblin sang. "For both your, and your parents', sake, slow down a bit—surely your parents wouldn't want you to hurt yourself."

"How is my lifting an eighty pound dumbbell hurting me?" Lhaklar asked. "While it's a lot of weight for one arm to lift, and while I'm having a bit of a struggle to get it lifted, I'm fine with lifting this."

"Sir, seriously, you're still very young and your muscles have—"

"Look," Lhaklar stopped lifting the dumbbell; he placed it on the floor, between his feet, then turned to speak to the man who was giving him a bit of a headache. "I see your concern and I appreciate it but it's not needed. I'm perfectly fine, and so is my brother."

While on the way to work in a portion of the house that had a window that wasn't fogged over and that one could look out from he had heard the sound of someone using the equipment in the house's gym; the brown oak accordion doors, that went to the adjoined gyms, had been open so he had wandered in without checking to see who it was that was inside first. While finding the two older boys of his employer's in the adjoined rooms had been a minor shock finding them as either lifting weights without a spotter being nearby or lifting weights that were a little over what they should be lifting had been a major shock—he was a bit concerned for the both of them.

The two were still young and their muscles, while looking rather ample on their bodies, were still inexperienced and fragile; he didn't want neither of them to get hurt by using the room's various equipment so he decided to stick around to see if he could speak some sense into them.

Due to their youth, they were overconfident in what they could do; he had more than enough experience on how a mid-teenager acted with gym equipment and with their trying to "beef up" to impress either their peers or some gal that they had the hots for. Zshon, after maturing enough to gain an interest in the opposite gender, and after noticing the new girl who had been assigned to his class when he had been a student in Staffer's Academy, had tried to pull the old impress-me routine by lifting a one hundred and fifty pounds weight—all his act had done was gain him some torn muscles in his back and arms and it had also gained him the distinct pleasure of falling over backwards; if not for the weight flying out of his hands and then crashing just above his head, he would of been crippled. Daosi, at two thousand, three hundred, and twenty-five years of age, had actually pulled his biceps completely from the tendon in both of his arms after his chums started challenging one another on who could lift a two hundred pound weight. Yhozah was the one who held the most ridiculous reason to become injured while trying to impress someone—while trying to impress his cousins and his maternal grandmother, who had been asked to watch him and his cousins but who hadn't been doing so, he had tried to lift the front-end of a car; all his attempt had done was cause one of the discs in his one thousand, eight hundred, and thirty-four year old back to slip from alignment.

Eldass looked at the two youngsters that were in the gym; while happy to see that they were back to where they were suppose to be, and while glad to see that they were settling in, he was still shocked over how big, tall, and well-toned they were. In his eyes, they were taking their sizes too far in lifting items that they shouldn't be lifting. He followed the oldest of his employer's biological sons around for a few minutes, trying to get him to either slow up in lifting the weights that he was using and trying to get him to take breaks between each session that he took in lifting one or more of the room's various weight-base equipment, before stopping; Young Master Lhaklar's action of putting the climbing wall's appointed vest around himself, and then going towards the rock wall, was what did it for him. He turned tail then ran out of the room; he went straight up to the second level then he used his instinct to track his employer down with.

"You idiot!" Hazaar snapped right when the Goblin was ascending one of the foyer's stairwells. "You led us down a blind-spot! We're fuckin' lost!"

"How was I suppose to know that a bunch of left's and a bunch of right's and then a walk down a real long hallway, that looked to be made completely out of stone, would take us to a dead-end?" Lazeer asked. "I don't have a compass, or a map of this place, in my head. Bile and Lhaklar might know the layout of this place—since I wasn't raised in this place, I don't know a thing about it."

"Shut up!" Hazaar's yell sounded down the hallway rather loudly; just about everyone on the level that they were on heard it. After yelling, he turned then started down the hallway; Lazeer followed behind him a few seconds later.

"Ooooh, is my owwwder browder angwy at me for getting him wost?" Lazeer said in an annoying, girl-like fashion.

When one said that a certain structure was like a mansion on the inside they were usually talking about a structure that was larger than that of what they were either living in or what they had formerly been living in—in his case, saying that the inside of his father's place was "like a mansion" would be more than off-shooting the phrase. His father's place was gargantuan, and there seemed to be more than five hallways on the first level that one could well find themselves as being or getting lost in. While he hadn't meant to get them lost he had still enjoyed the fact of his brother growing more and more hysterical over their not knowing where they were—they had seen stone-made statues of bats; bronze statues that had Sword fish on them; and statues of all sorts of colors during their time in being lost. He wouldn't be forgetting about the jade, silver, gold, gold and silver, silver and jade, silver and ruby, and bronze-colored statues of fish and bats that they had seen for a long time and that went double for the statues that they had seen on the hallway that was completely stone-made. The stone-made hallway had more than ten statues of mermaids, mermen, bears catching salmon, and eagles that were flying off with fish in their talons on it... and it had also been decorated with a variety of framed fish bones, some that were normal in color while others being gold or silver or ruby. The only room that they had chanced to open and then go into had only had a skeletal representation of a Nemicolopterus, a species of Pterosaur that had been described in 2008, in it; they had spent a short amount of time in the room before leaving and then going by their own in trying to figure out where they were and where they were headed.

His brother had yelled at him several times, and he had actually charged down one of the hallways that they had reached in a blind panic; he still held a beef with him over his pushing and shoving him down the one hallway that was flanked on one side by one-way bay windows. Hazaar was actually the one to take charge of leading them down the one hallway that branched onto the one that they were currently on; he wasn't about to say anything on his not meaning to get them lost because he knew his brother would scoff at him and then claim otherwise.

"You're useless sometimes, you know that?" Hazaar spat. "Useless!"

"Hey man, I didn't mean to lead us so far into the house." even though he knew that his brother's mood was being fueled by his Temperamental phase he couldn't help but feel a trifle bit hurt over being called useless.

"Yes you did—I never should of let you take change! You can't lead in daytime anyways because you're too damn blind!" Hazaar snapped. "Useless, blind, you're never going to do anything with y—"

"Shut up, Hazaar!" Lazeer said. His shock was turning into anger. "Watch what comes out of your mouth—you're just as blind and useless as I am in this place."

"You're useless and blind even when you're outside of this place!" Hazaar stopped; after turning to face his brother, he pushed him hard enough to fall to the floor. "Ugly as homemade soup as well."

"That goes double for you too." Lazeer said while getting up from the floor.

The shove, followed by his brother's continuous verbal abuse, was what caused them to fight; he had just ducked the fist that was being thrown in his direction, and he had just slugged his own fist into his brother's stomach, when Bile and Lhaklar left the gym, which, quite ironically, was just a hallway away from them.

There were no statues on the hallway that they were on—which was a good thing because, if there had been any on the hallway, they would of gotten broken and fast.

Lazeer was fast with his fists and sturdy with his feet; his left fist collided with his brother's left eye while his right one collided with his brother's gut. He had just ducked the blow that was meant for the center of his face when his brother jumped at him. Hazaar tackled him to the floor, then pinned him down, then started raining punches on him; due to his present state, he ducked, and kicked his legs, and yelled. After a fist opened his lower lip, he wrapped his hands around his brother's legs; with a rip to the side, he threw his brother from him. He had only just jumped onto his brother, to give him a sort of payback for the injuries that he had given him, when Lhaklar's arms wrapped around him. He was heaved up, then thrown to the side, then Hazaar was picked up; Bile was in the process of grabbing Hazaar, who had turned on Lhaklar, when their parents ran into view.

Their father was fast in separating Bile from Hazaar while their mother was fast in putting herself between Lhaklar and he; Hazaar had no more been released of their father's grip when he lunged in his direction. A quick slap from their father did the trick in canceling that action out.

"What in the blue blazes is going on between you four!" TazirVile demanded. "Temper phase or not, and burly-bodied or not, no physical fighting in the house!"

"Hazaar, I'm very surprised with you." Angel said, while she was upset she wasn't voicing it as much as her husband was. "When you were on Earth you knew that physical fighting in a house wasn't allowed—sit and chill when your temper's made an appearance but don't let it explode or cause you to turn on another."

"He got us lost." Hazaar said. His anger was starting to subside; as always, it was being replaced by dread and depression. He suddenly felt bad for what he had said to his brother and for his fighting him. "He-he—"

"Getting you lost isn't a good cause for one to f—"

"Tazir," Angel placed her hand on her husband's arm; when he was calm, she turned to tend her son, who was starting to get hysterical. She turned him towards her gently. "Getting you lost isn't a reason for you to let your anger take over, or for you to fight your brother."

Hazaar's hysteria broke to the surface fully; he grabbed his mother in a hug then he started crying into her shoulder. While Angel tended him, telling him that all was fine, and patting his shoulder and back, she listened to Tazir as he got on Bile and Lhaklar for what Eldass had claimed they had been doing while being in the gym. According to Eldass, both of her sons had been struggling to pick up the weights that they had been lifting and they had also been jumping from one weight to the next—while she hadn't been in the room with them she knew that his claim wasn't true. She knew her sons; they wouldn't lift weights that they couldn't handle and they wouldn't be jumping from one weight to the next after the former's use was concluded. The two were very wise in their work-out regiments and they also knew their limits well—sure, the two had tried to go past their limits a few times, and had gotten hurt on occasion during them attempts, but they knew better than to overdo things with their bodies. From what she had gathered from Eldass, Bile had been lifting a hundred and thirty pound weight, which she viewed as very appropriate for her son—if he had been lifting a hundred and fifty or two hundred pounds she would of gotten very concerned for him but, seeing as he had been lifting ten pounds over his usual limit, she wasn't but so concerned for him—and Lhaklar had been lifting a single, eighty pound dumbbell—this was within his limit so, again, she wasn't but so concerned about him on that regard. She had mostly been concerned about their hopping from one weight to the next and about what Tazir had in mind to do with them in accord to what had been told to them.

Angel had Hazaar sit down then she stepped forward; she had just gotten to Tazir's side when he did something that made her blood boil. Lhaklar, who was a bit too worked up, claimed that he and Bile had been fine, and that they hadn't been doing anything out of the ordinary in his gym; his usage of an elevated voice caused his father to strike him. She lunged forward, then she placed herself between her husband and her two, older sons, right after the light blue hand assaulted her secondborn's hip.

"That is enough, Tazzy." Angel said strongly. With this being said, she turned to look at Lhaklar who was fast in looking at her and then at the wall opposite her. "Were you and Bile struggling to lift any of the weights that are in the gym?"

"No, ma." Bile said quickly. "We weren't having any difficulties at all—the hundred and thirty pound weight, for me, was a struggle but I was doing well with it."

"No problem experienced on my end with the eighty pound dumbbell that I was using." Lhaklar said. He didn't like how his father was glaring at his mother.

"Eldass claims that you two were struggling." Angel said. "And that you were also running from one piece of equipment in the gym to another."

"No, ma. We experienced no issues with the weights that we were lifting and we weren't jumping from one thing to the next either." Bile replied, then told of what he had done while being in the gym. "I ran four laps around the room, then I used the weight for a few minutes before going off to use one of the treadmills. Lhaklar was using the speed bag when I came in; not sure what he used before I came in but he did use an eighty pound dumbbell after punching the bag and he also used the climbing wall as well."

"Went up seven or eight feet—came down after my arms started showing fatigue. Sat on the bench, that's beside the accordion doors, after taking the vest off." Lhaklar said.

"I suggest that, if you use that wall, you stay at either that height or lower." Angel said. She knew well the wall that her son had used; Tazir, and his friend and old school chum, Gloar, were frequent users of it. They sometimes raced one another when they used the wall; Tazir, who could climb both the wall and the ceiling-portion of the wall, was always the winner of each of the races held between them. She had no issue with her son using the wall. "Anything over seven feet on that wall is a right impressive height for you to gain, but no further than what you did today, okay? Neither your father or I want you to fall down because you've lost your grip or—"

"From now on, you two are only allowed to use the gym when I say its okay or when I'm headed down to use it myself."

Eldass watched as his employer and his employer's wife fought; while shocked over the two's fight, which only occurred after Mistress Angel contradicted what her husband said in regards to their two older sons using the house's gym, he wasn't about to pick sides or retract what he had told them about what he had seen in the gym. He saw his "tattling" on the Young Masters as a good thing—instead of watching them go from one piece of equipment to another, and instead of watching them put themselves in probable danger of injury, he had gone to retrieve their parents.

Mistress Angel was still a spitfire woman... she was still full of fire regardless of the fact that she had raised four boys on her own. The woman who was his employer's Universally married wife still had a better than fine body on her—it looked like she hadn't given birth to any children, or raised any children on her own, or gone through any of the stresses that'd wear a body down. The woman still had the same figure that she had possessed sixteen hundred years ago—he was still surprised over the fact that her breasts were the same size that they had been when she had disappeared with the boys.

A woman's breast size sometimes dropped after the young were born; Aboshi's breasts had dropped in size after Akavira and Lorboyan had been born, they had gone back to being their original size after Zardox's birth occurred. Her breasts had also either gone up in size or dropped in size after the weaning of their young happened—they had barely been visible on her chest after Zshon, Daosi, Molfwuff, and Mekaia and Faalia were weaned while, when Saplina, Devlor and Seiqo, and Malmeen and Bamaia stopped nursing from her, they had grown to nearly twice their original size. At the moment, after Akavira, Lorboyan, and Zardox stopped nursing from her, her breasts were their normal size—34A, which was fine for both him and her. No more pain being felt by her because of her breasts being too big for her and no more worrying for him on whether or not she was healthy.

He stayed clear of the fighting—his involvement need not happen; the fight that was going on was happening between a husband and wife, not between husband, wife, and one of their employees. After the two fought about who knew more about the boys, on who knew what was best for the boys, and when not to discipline the boys, Mistress Angel concluded the session by walking away from her husband; her sons followed behind her like shadows.

"Bastard!" Angel thought while leading her sons up to the house's second and then third levels.

Seeing as things were as they were—Hazaar being both a hysterical and a nervous wreck, Lhaklar looking to be a bit upset over being hit by his father, Bile looking to be angered over seeing one of his brothers being striked at, and Lazeer looking about ready to succumb to his anxiety over what just happened—she took them to Lhaklar's bedroom chamber, where she figured they'd be left alone for a while. After entering the room, then going to the bed that was in the room, she undid her top then held her arms out for two of her sons. Hazaar and Lazeer stepped forward; they were fast in latching on and in taking half of the milk that was in her—her breasts were equally fast in gasping their relief in finally being rid of the excess milk that was in them.

Twenty minutes passed; when her two, younger sons de-latched from her she sent them on their way then held her arms out for Lhaklar, who had since taken to pacing before the bed's foot, and Bile, who had done nothing but stand before the room's closed door. The two came to her then latched on. In all, it took her an hour to calm all of her sons down.

"Hazaar, you alright?" Angel asked. Her son was seated by one of the room's windows.

"Yeah," Hazaar said. "Mom, can I peak out Lhaklar's window?"

"No, I think that's something you shouldn't do." due to the windows in Lhaklar's room looking out on the front yard, she didn't think that her son should chance the risk of being seen by the reporters, who were still milling around the property's front gate and fence.

"Why not? Are the reporters still out there?" Hazaar asked.

"Mhmmm, yes. Reporters can be a rather stubborn lot—some are standing out in the storm while wearing slickers and galoshes while others are being a little more smarter by waiting things out in their cars; the ones in the cars won't waste a second, or groan over getting rained or hailed on, in leaving their cars if you or your brothers were noted as looking out the windows that looked out on the house's front side."

"Lazeer," Hazaar turned then looked at his younger brother.

"Yeah,"

"I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't mean any of what I said when we were lost."

"Guess a lot of the fault's on me for not watching where we were going or what hallway we were going down." Lazeer said. "Don't think much of it."

He decided to do an attempt in making up for what he had said and for what he had done after he and his brother had gotten lost; Lazeer was invited over to his bedroom for magazine reading, and to listen to some tunes, and to play some video games—his brother was fast in accepting his invite and in following him to his room. Yesterday, he had noticed that some of the game systems, that had been on the entertainment center in their former residence, were in his room; he hadn't played any of the games, or had even went to see if the two units that were in his room were hooked up properly, but he had noticed them nonetheless. The two units were on a three-shelf bookcase that was beside his dresser; the third shelf of the bookcase contained a lot of games on it—until he and his brother decided to forgo the magazine reading and music listening, he had figured that they all went to the Nintendo 64 and Super Nintendo. The games that were on the bookcase's third shelf, they discovered, were compatible with the Playstation 2 and 3—which were in Lhaklar's bedroom; the Playstation 4 had been discovered as being in Lazeer's bedroom and Lazeer's Gameboy had been discovered as being in Bile's bedroom at the same time that the other gaming systems' whereabouts had been discovered.

Hazaar grabbed the games after seeing what unit they went to; in all, he had around twenty or so games in his arms when he left his room, Lazeer had nearly triple that amount in his arms when he left the room. The games were put on the bookcases that their compatible game units were on—the same type of bookcase that the Nintendo systems were on had also been added to Bile's, Lhaklar's, and Lazeer's bedrooms yesterday—then the games for the Nintendo systems were tracked down, retrieved, and then taken to the room that their compatible systems were in.

"Alright, now that the games are all squared away, what should we play?" Hazaar asked.

"Is Blue Marlin anywhere around?" Lazeer asked.

"You know it is."

"Pop that sucker in," Lazeer said while taking one of the Super Nintendo remote controls up from the bookcase's top. "Get ready for your booty to be beaten—I've been wanting to play this game for a while now."

"Mom said that she'll be making Lhaklar's fish for us tonight." Hazaar said as he slid the game into the Super Nintendo console then powered the console up. "Looking forward to what she's cooking—fish steak and whatever it was that Lhaklar wanted her to make for him."

"What was it that Lhaklar wanted her to make?" Lazeer asked.

"Something called Fishcake,"

"I imagine that as not being very tasty." Lazeer said. "Fish baked into a cake, that has frosting and all other matter of decorative items on it? Gross!"

"When I was in Bile's room, I retrieved your Gameboy and its games for you. They're all in your room, on your bed." Hazaar said while putting his name into the game that they were gearing up to play.

"Thanks," Lazeer said. When it came time for him to add his name to the game, he did so and quickly. "Course, if either of you ijits wish to play that game, or the Playstation 4, just say so. Neither belong to me, you know. They belong to all of us."

In the time between breakfast and lunch was consumed, he lost track of his bearings and of the time that was slowly, yet not so slowly, slipping past. Since it seemed that everyone was on the third level, and since it looked like they weren't "welcomed" to be on the first level, and since nothing of high importance was going on, he had made the decision to give his room's new stereo system a try. As far as he could tell, the system, one of them kick-ass JVC H2X Model 2's, was killer fine—after taking up residence in his room, he had listened to Ozzy Osbourne's Scream, Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime, ACDC's Black In Black, and, lastly, Manowar. The final disc of music that he listened to was loud enough to make the eardrums of one who was downstairs burst—Manowar hadn't been recognized for breaking the sound barrier for nothing; in 1994, they had been recorded as playing 129.5 dB in Hanover... they had been added to the Guinness Book of World Records ten years earlier for playing even louder than that, which was both scary and outstanding at the same time. While listening to his tunes, he looked at the edition of Hustler that he had purchased last month; ma had already given him and his brothers their December allowances, and she had also promised to make a trip to their former planet of residence to pick up their usual magazine editions as well. He was looking forward to getting his December editions and he was also looking forward to the other promise that she had given them—quite surprisingly, she had said that she was also going to do their cigarette and weed restocking for them.

When he looked at the clock that was on the room's bedside table he gasped; here it was, nearing lunch-hour, and he was near to missing the meal that should be nearing its cooking or prepping conclusion. With the time noted, he tossed his magazine to the side then got up. His stereo was turned off, the disc of music that was in the system was removed and then returned to its case, then he left his room; it was quite obvious that his brothers had also just noticed the time because, when he left his room, they were also leaving theirs.

"Mom went downstairs to make lunch nearly an hour ago." Lhaklar said while leading them down to the house's second level.

"Wonder what it is that's been cooked." Bile said.

"Same here." Lhaklar said. "Finished a model while we were room-stuck."

"Cool," Bile said while walking towards their younger brothers' turned backs; the two had said nothing to them after leaving their rooms, he decided to pay them back for their not noticing or acknowledging them. When he was within grabbing distance of his brothers, he said boo then grabbed them by the back of their shirts. "And what type of trouble did you two decide to talk about doing after your session with the Nintendo's was up?"

"Man! We didn't speak nothing about causing trouble—we just played Blue Marlin, Super Black Bass, and then Tournament of Champions before listening to some music." Hazaar said after tearing his shirt free of his brother's grip. Once free, he turned then slugged his fist into his brother's back. "What'd you do?"

"Listened to some music while looking at a magazine." Bile replied.

"Should I wash my hand now?" Hazaar asked.

Bile took over in leading them down the second level's hallway, and then down the stairwell that wound around the foyer's right side; he found himself being de-throned as being the leader of his brothers after Lazeer elbowed past him. From what they were able to hear, it was still storming outside—Lazeer's quick-glance out one of the first level windows confirmed that it was worse than ever. Lazeer was about to comment on how soggy the front yard looked when Bile's hand wrapped around the collar of his shirt; Bile tore his brother away from the window then pushed him down the hallway.

Before they entered the kitchen area, where their mother had been said to be in, they smelled the very appetizing aroma of food being cooked; they were aware of their mother having two others in the room with her so, when they entered the room, they weren't but so surprised over seeing that their father and sister were in it.

"You boys decide that it's time to come downstairs to fill them tummies of yours?" their mother asked after they appeared in the kitchen.

"Yes!" Hazaar and Lazeer said in unison.

"Most definitely!" Bile said.

"Playing fishing games has made both me and Hazaar very hungry, mom." Lazeer said.

"What she's making probably tastes better than what you two were "catching"." Bile said.

"And better on the eyes as well." Lhaklar said.

"What does virtual fish taste like?" Lazeer asked.

"Have no idea, pro—" Bile winced; Lhaklar had fallen into one of their younger brother's carefully yet not carefully placed traps.

"Like cardboard and newsprint!" Lazeer exclaimed.

"Your jokes seem to be getting lamer, Laz." Hazaar said.

"So's your face."

"Lazeer, watch it now." Angel said.

"Yes, mom." Lazeer said, he then zipped his mouth shut.

While she wanted to blurt it all out she decided, for her sake, to keep it in—she had just been reprimanded for voicing her opinion on her brothers, and on how she felt about their being in the house, with her and her father, anyways so why bother in making a repeat happen.

While her parents might not see it her way she saw her brothers as being nothing more than trouble and she also saw them as causing trouble for the ones that both lived and worked in the house; her father had reprimanded them a few times, Eldass had caught wind of two of them doing something that they shouldn't of been doing, and the other staff in the house were still being forced into being silent while working. Other than Bile, none of her biological half-brothers had said so much as two words to her after "settling in", which made her opinion of them be quite low. While she was glad to have her mother back in the house she was no longer glad over having her brothers being back to where they had either been born and raised or just plain born in—the admission of this had caused her father to give her a watch-it look; a reprimanding from her mother had followed on the heels of her father's given look. It seemed that with each passing day her mood towards her brothers was growing dimmer—she couldn't stop this from happening and, really, she wasn't trying to stop the dim feeling from growing stronger in her. Her happy, content attitude towards her missing family's return home had turned from being happy and content to dread; to her, it felt like life in the house wasn't the same anymore... and it felt like she had to tip-toe either down the hallway that her and her brothers' chambers were on or around her brothers whenever she and they were around one another.

The thought of why she hadn't been given sisters instead of brothers had happened while she had been reprimanded—if two or three of her brothers had been born as girls instead of boys she wouldn't be as nervous around them or feel the way that she did about them. She felt that she'd get along better with a sister, or numerous sisters, and she felt that she'd feel more confident with having a sister or two in the house; they'd gossip, and read girlie magazines, and do their hair, and watch girlie shows together, and try to replicate their mother's culinary skills, and drive the boys batty... she and a sister would be able to do so much more than she and her brothers were. Her brothers had more masculine interests in mind; they had their smut-magazines, and their too-loud music, and their bodies and muscle-building, and being tough and unruly to worry about. To her, the activities that her brothers were interested in weren't needed and were unacceptable—her daddy didn't read them smut magazines, or obsess about his muscles, or talk or act tough, and he was definitely not unruly. Her daddy was a respectable, responsible man who, she believed, steered clear of them... interests.

An example, of sorts, of how respectable her father was had happened after she and he had entered the kitchen; daddy had gone right up to her mother and then apologized for the events that occurred earlier that morning. Why he had apologized for something that she believed he had been in the right of doing was beyond her but, yeah, he had apologized for being so "uptight" with her brothers. She knew that her father was one of them overly protective types—a male parent who jumped after hearing a small gasp, or the dreaded dad, come quick—, and she also knew that he was a very patient and understanding man—this, and the overly protective side that he had to himself, told a fine story on how great a man, and father, he was and it also told how much respect he should get from the ones that lived in his house—but why had he apologized for disciplining Lhaklar and Hazaar and why had he apologized for taking back her brothers' "privilege" in being able to use the gym without being supervised?

She figured that her brothers were spoiled rotten, and that her mother was trying to keep them that way—when she had said this her mother had been fast in going off like one of them rockets that were shot during either special occasions or holidays. Her father had done nothing in going to her defense; he had just glared at her while her mother got on her—she had said that she had been very disrespectful, rude, and that what she had said was very far from the truth on what her brothers really were. Her mother had said that her brothers were taking things slow and that they'd need time to adjust to their new living arrangements—if not for mam's running off, and taking her brothers with her, they wouldn't be but so "nervous" of their surroundings or "slow" in taking their surroundings in and they wouldn't need "time" to adjust to the house or their new "way of life" either.

Her father had agreed with what her mother had said right when she had decided to speak not a word more on the subject of what she felt about her brothers and about her personal opinion towards her brothers.

"Was fine with them a week ago... now, I'm not." she thought after seeing that Lhaklar was coming towards her.

She had been fine with Bile's size before; now, she was terrified that he'd hurt her. She was afraid that he'd slug a fist at her, or pick her up and crush her to death, or run at her and then trample her to death. She wished that her father would put her adopted brother on a diet or something... she'd feel much calmer and much more relaxed around Bile if he wasn't so burly.

Lhaklar seemed a bit too arrogant to her; here he was, standing up to daddy, and mouthing off at him, and challenging him... that hadn't been apart of her little brother before, when he had been five hundred years old. She wished that her daddy would get on him and fast about his arrogant attitude because, as it stood now, she was afraid to speak to him—he might contradict what she said, or he might come back with something that was irrelevant to what she had said, or he might just get nasty with her over something that he hadn't understood of hers, and that she wasn't able to explain.

Hazaar seemed to have a real issue with his temper; Temperamental phase or not he should know better than to let his temper get the better of him and he should also know better than to act out whenever he was in a tempered mood. As it stood, she was afraid to be in the same room with him because of his high-level temper—he might get mad at her for just saying hello to him, or he might just turn and slug a fist at her for her being present around him. She wished that her daddy would put this brother of hers on some medication that'd calm him down—she'd feel so much better if his moods weren't so hair trigger-like and if he didn't have such a thin string to his temper.

Lazeer... well, her opinion on him wasn't very good. Yes, he was the youngest in her family; yes, he was the youngest of her brothers; and yes, he was a boy, but did he have to try to be so "funny" all the time? To her, his continuous jokes and joke-like nature were wrong; she saw him as being very rude and disrespectful. She wished that her daddy would get on him about his habit of throwing out continuous jokes and she also wished that her daddy would get on him for his dress-sense—torn and ripped clothing wasn't presentable clothing; both he and Bile shouldn't be wearing anything that was ripped... they should be wearing non-ripped, presentable clothing that'd show none of the skin that was underneath it.

Her main fear and worry was centered around her father. Her brothers seemed very well behaved for their mother while, for their father, they didn't seem to show or give him any sort of respect; no love or well-done behavior was being expressed between them in regards to their father, which was both infuriating, shocking, and saddening. She worried that Bile would snap one day then go for her father; she worried that Lhaklar would challenge their father one too many times, which would result in a fight that only one would come out on top of; and she worried that Hazaar and Lazeer would gang up on her father and then beat him up just for his showing up in their immediate vicinity. This fear of hers was so great that she was nearly blinded by it—Mekaia Zultoa had been confided in about this fear; all she had said was _everything is fine, Miss. Eshal. The feeling that you're feeling is very normal and natural; you'll find that it'll go away after everyone's fully settled in the house._ After confiding that she was also scared for the members of her father's staff Miss. Zultoa had said that she had nothing to fear about them and that her _brothers wouldn't harm a soul_. How did she know that? How was she so sure of everything settling down and of her brothers not harming anyone? Hazaar and Lazeer had had a fight earlier that day, so that, in itself, told her that they would result to violence; while hopeful over the maid's words being true she didn't believe that everything would be peachy-fine after everyone "settled down".

When her father, who was standing over by the stacked over, walked over to Lhaklar, who had since taken the stool that was beside hers, she held her breath; she readied herself for a fight—any fight—to happen between the two of them.

"I'd like to apologize for my earlier actions towards you and Bile, son." TazirVile said. Lhaklar, Eshal viewed, sized their father up before looking him in the eye. "I let all of what was told to me cloud my better judgements and I let my protective side take over after hearing the claim of what you and Bile were doing in the gym."

"Guess all of us let it get out of hand earlier," Lhaklar said. "With Hazaar spazing out, then picking a fight with Lazeer, and then with you being told what you was told about me and Bile, and then a fight happening between you and mom, something was bound to happen. Think we were all not thinking clearly."

"True." TazirVile agreed on the bit about their not thinking clearly. "Eldass offers his apology for taking things out of context; he was only acting out of concern for you and Bile."

"I'll let what happened this morning slip from my memory banks."

"You and Bile can use the gym whenever you wish," TazirVile said. After saying this, he turned his attention to Hazaar and Lazeer. "That goes for you two as well—have fun in there, but please don't overdo it."

"K," Lazeer said. Hazaar just nodded his head.

"I'll be honest with you—came close to tearing all of the muscles in my arms after trying to lift a weight that was too over my limit." Lhaklar said. His father did nothing more than blink his eyes then stare at him. "I don't want that to happen again."

"Learning from a past experience, like that." TazirVile said. "What was it that you was trying to lift?"

"A hundred and twenty pounds."

"What's your limit?"

"A hundred and ten."

"You'll get there one day, son." TazirVile said. "At your age, my limit was five pounds over that. Be wise in using them weights and, one day, you'll be lifting more than what you are now."

Soon after sitting on the stool, he had noticed that his sister had gotten up and then gone around the island; she was now seated on the stool that was across from him. While he had a mind to ask her if she was okay, or if there was something wrong in his sitting beside her, he didn't say anything to her—after his father started speaking about what he was planning on doing in the next few days all interest in asking her if things were fine between them or if there was some unknown thing going on between them dropped.

Dad had plans to visit the Elder Courts on Brol to see if the order that he had gotten pertaining to Bile's guardianship was still valid or if he needed to reinstate his case; the man also claimed that he had another interest on Brol that he was to also square away while on the planet. He was about to disclose the purpose of his second interest when Bile asked him a question.

"What's the second reason to why you're going to Brol?"

"To see if I'm still on record for being your adoptive father figure." TazirVile replied.

"Shouldn't you already know that answer?" Bile asked. "I mean... with you being my adoptive figure when I was six hundred years old shouldn't you still be my adoptive figure now?"

"That's what I'm aiming to check." TazirVile replied. With that matter squared away, he said something pertaining to his planned few-day absence. "It's up to your mother if she wants to take control of the home or not; if she doesn't wish to have that burden placed on her, I'll put Eldass in charge of running things."

"I can take care of the house," Angel said. "I'll make sure that everyone's working and that the animals and everything are tended to."

"When I get back you four can officially explore the outside." TazirVile said. "The back first, then the front."

"What's in that room that has that gilded starfish door knob?" Hazaar asked. His father was fast in looking at him; he hadn't expected for his secondborn son to say anything to him. The man's action of looking at him caused him to be a bit nervous. "When me and Lazeer were exploring earlier we came upon it... i-it was locked, so we couldn't get in to see what was in it."

"That's your daddy's fish room." Angel was fast to say. "There's lots of tanks in there; all are full of fish."

"I keep it locked because the tanks are rather fragile—due to how easily the tanks can break, I don't want any of my staff going in there." TazirVile said.

"Because of the water pressure." Lhaklar said. "The pressure against the glass is so great that so much as a finger tapping or touching it can make it break."

"Yes, that's right." TazirVile said. "The glass on the tanks is as thick as my arm yet it's still rather fragile."

"Wasn't you, at one time, thinking about switching the glass in the tanks to something stronger?" Angel asked.

"I was looking into changing the glass to acrylic at one time; due to how the clarity changes as the acrylic ages, I decided against switching over." TazirVile replied. "Was thinking about changing over to both glass and acrylic as well but, after you five left, I never did so. Finding you five was all that I could think of."

Bile's cheery mood was dropped a few notches after the man who he regarded as his true paternal figure spoke about who all was coming to see him and his siblings in the next few weeks; he didn't much like the idea of his real father being in the house, with him and his siblings, and he also didn't like the idea of his older half-brother and sister, and his older sister's husband, being in the house either. Pretty much everyone was coming over. His grandparents, Kuruk and Irka, and their current young children; his great-grandparents, Duru and Cyla, and their current young children; his adoptive father's sisters and their assortment of families; and his great-great grandfather, Shaam, were all slated to come over to see and "interact" with him and his brothers. The Ubalki family, consisting of his adoptive grandparents, Ashaklar and Cheshire, and their assortment of kids, were also slated to come over and so was one named Gloar Rovnitov and his wife, Vixbie, and their kids—the old man claimed that he was going to wait until Mr. Rovnitov's schedule cleared up before sending him his invite to come over. His great-great-great uncle, TrobrencusVile Surfeit, and his family were said to be getting their invites to come over after everyone else's had been sent out. That was a crap-load of people coming over, taking up the house and possibly making trouble for him and his; when he turned to look at his mother, he saw that she was wearing a thin layer of nervousness on her about the list of people who were coming over. He could comply with the feeling—he was nervous too. Judging by the looks that were on his brothers' faces, they were nervous too.

"Alright everyone, grab a tray, or a dish, then follow me." Angel said after taking up a tray then starting towards the kitchen's open doorway. "Lunch is ready but no eating until we get to the proper place."

"No need to tell me twice," Lhaklar grabbed an oval dish, that looked to have some chicken tenders in it, then followed her. "I'm hungry and I've been missing your cooking."

"Make way for the Lunch Train," Lazeer said while grabbing a dish that was separated in the middle by a silver bar. The dish that he had grabbed had normal french fries and seasoned french fries in it. "Smells so good that I might gobble it all while we're on the way to the dining room."

"You do that and I'll cream you." Bile said. He grabbed a medium-sized tray, that had more than enough hoagies on it, then he followed his family as they left the room.

Hazaar grabbed the tray that looked to have some sort of pigs in a blanket on it then followed his family; his father took the tray that had a loaf of onion bread and cinnamon bread on it then followed on his heels while Eshal grabbed the dish of salad then trudged behind them.

The "Food Train" thing, where her family grabbed a tray, or a dish, then followed the one who was at the head of the line to the dining room was very new to her; she had never done this before and, really, she saw no point in doing it. Why not they just go to the dining room then instruct two to three butlers, or maids, to cart everything that was in the smaller kitchen to the room for them?

She was dreading the fact of her father's few-day absence in the house; with her fear towards her brothers being as high as it was she didn't want to be left with them. While she loved, trusted, and respected her mother she didn't think that she'd treat her fairly after her father left to deal with matters on Brol. She, while on the way to the dining room, made plans to ask her father about taking her with him when he went to Brol; if he wouldn't do that then, maybe, she could pursuade him into letting her stay with a friend of hers until he came back or something.

"And, if neither of that is given an okay from him, I'll just sit in my chamber and not leave it until he comes home or stay near one of the hired help that I trust." she thought just before entering the house's dining room.

When everyone reached the dining room, and then the table, they set the trays and dishes down, then took their places, then started in on the meal that had been made for them. The meal, within ten minutes, was over; they were stuffed but, judging by her mother's face, they weren't yet through with eating. She was in awe over what she had eaten—it had been very good and she had come very close to having a third plate before placing a firm stop to eating anything else.

"Hope you don't mind but I made several desserts," Angel said to her husband after the "main course" had been eaten. "Five, to be exact."

"I'll be needing a restraining order to keep me from eating each dessert that you made, ma." Bile said. "That and I'll also be in need of a new notch in my belt."

"Your cooking is splendid, My Love." TazirVile said. "I can see how the boys got to looking so healthy."

"Good food and good exercise." Bile and Lhaklar said at once.

A small team of butlers took the trays and dishes away while another team of butlers brought in three trays and then two dishes; once the new items were on the table, TazirVile stood up then started the process of taking their tops off. They were all surprised over seeing that one of the dishes contained a better than decent helping of lemon sandwich cookies, that had a lemon-cheese filling in them; they emptied that bowl of that dessert item then they went to the other items that were on the table.

Apple chocolate brownies had been made; they had, at least, two of them before grabbing one of the mini-pies that were on one of the table's trays. TazirVile, try as he might, wasn't able to stop at just that; he found himself as taking two of the churro dogs, that had a slathering of whipped cream, caramel sauce, ice cream, and chocolate on them, from the tray that they were sitting on. They finished the meal off by devouring three marshmallow pops that had been coated in frosting and sprinkles or frosting and chocolate pieces. Once the meal was over, and they were full, they slumped back in their chairs.

"Think I'm with Bile on this one, sweetheart." TazirVile said a minute to two minutes after everyone slumped in their chairs. "I'll need a new notch in my belt here and soon... and a visit to the gym as well."

"That... that was very good, mam." Eshal, who was just about as stuffed as could be, said.

"Now that we've been fed, we need to take it easy. What we've eaten will need a few hours to digest." Angel said.

"No worries on that." everyone said at once.


	12. Chapter 12

His return to work coincided with his employer's trip to Brol; even though he missed the man by a mere five minutes he was given the scoop on what was going on in the house. His employer's daughter, Miss. Eshal, had told him a fine tale of what was going on while Zshon reiterated, and cleaned up, some of the details that she had told him.

Miss. Eshal claimed that Lhaklar was a rather arrogant young man; by way of personal observation, he hadn't noted a single bit of arrogance to him. Miss. Eshal had also said that Hazaar was too temperamental and that Lazeer was a "disrespectful, rude rat who can't seem to keep his jokes to himself and his mouth shut"; again, by personal observation, he had seen none of that with them two—with Young Master Hazaar looking to be in the throws of the Temperamental phase, he had a right in being temperamental. Young Master Lazeer, he viewed, was acting both his age and to the fashion of his birth—the youngest of the birthed children usually were the funny ones after all. His observation of Young Master Bile, the oldest of the returned boys, had also thrown what had been told to him out the window—Bile was big for his age, yes, but he didn't look to possess a single mean bone in his body, and it didn't look like he was aggressive or anywhere like that of his biological father either.

All four of the boys seemed to be very well-behaved; on the day that his employer left for his trip, which occurred on December 5, he had noticed how close they were to their mother and how obedient they were. He was pinning the blame on Young Master Lhaklar's challenge towards his father as being that of his not knowing how to act towards a fatherly figure and on his not knowing how one his age acted. In a lot of ways, the oldest of his employer's biological sons reminded him of himself when he had been growing up.

"Took me a while but I shaped up well." he thought while going into the employee lounge.

He had been raised by a single parent as well; his mother, Lihpha Khrelan, had started working in a topless bar, and had been making good money from throwing her clothes off and then shaking herself for the patrons, when the eye of his biological father was directed at her. His father, a man by the name of Rollum Dalser, who was a trucker, and who stood five foot one and a half inches tall and who was known to be notoriously famous for his bad demeanor, had bedded her for one night before wiping his hands clean and then going on his way. He had refused to have any part of him, or pay any type of child care for him. His mother had stripped for around six hundred years before deciding to throw in the towel and then get a real job that had better benefits in it—by the time that happened, he had already had a paper-route and had been helping out in paying for some of what was needed in the pantry. By the time his stepfather came into his life, he had switched from throwing papers to selling magazines and then produce in the local food market—the manager had felt sorry for him and his mother; he had hired him without thinking about the fact that he was hiring one who was barely nine hundred years old.

Kasdi Bishub's "chance" meeting with his mother occurred on the day that his mother had taken the weekly trip to the grocery store; he had noticed that she was crossing a lot of the stuff that she hadn't yet placed in the cart off of her list and, like with the manager of the food market that he had been hired to work at, he had felt sorry for her. He had paid for all of what had been on her list then, shortly after, he had started dating her. About three years after the two started dating the ring had been placed on her finger. Due to his being more mature than the other kids of his own age who were on the same block as he he had seen Kasdi Bishub as a threat; while continuing to sell produce in the food market he had spoken bad of the man and he had also done more than enough of what his employer's son had done in challenging the man. One day, about thirty years after the marriage between his mother and Kasdi occurred, Kasdi had approached him and then told him that he needed to stop working and be more his age. He had said no, and then he had challenged the man, then a fight between the two of them had happened; that had happened for all of a hundred and twenty years before he finally quit his job and then started mingling with the neighborhood kids—taking the necessary steps back in becoming his own age had been hard but it had been worth it.

Kasdi Bishub and he were cool now; he had two half-siblings—two sisters—and he was very happy with the way his relationship with the man was. Kasdi had put him through Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic, and then to Staffer's Academy; the man had also paid for all of the fees that he had gained due to his school books in his normal schools disappearing or being stolen by the ones who had tormented him on a near-weekly basis. The thought of his attending Militant's Academy had crossed his stepfather's mind twice before he had decided to just send him to Staffer's Academy; with his quiet, calm, and peaceful nature, tutelage at Militant's Academy was just not in his bag. Despite the fact that he was a Goblin, and that he acted in the custom way towards ones that he didn't know, he was still a rather peaceful, calm, quiet guy. At the time that he graduated from Staffer's Academy, he had been sixty places from top of his class—he had had a few issues with three of his courses, which had effected his grades... and had caused him several job opportunities.

His résumé included the likes of Hotel Orderly, Chef for Zel's Restaurant, and Greeter for Mamal's Mall; it had taken him a good lot of years before Tooglib Bazulun had found and then hired him. He had been Mr. Bazulun's gardener and personal chauffeur for four hundred years before Mr. Gloar Rovnitov came around—and, by the time that happened, he had been more than willing to quit working for Mr. Bazulun. While his next to last former employer had been a good man he had also been an annoying and frustrating one—he had been fond of the drink, and of getting him to drive him to town so he could "wet his whistle" in the bars, and he had also been rather rough when it came to his garden. If a flower looked poorly, or died before its time, he'd find himself being yelled at; if the apples or beans or corn wasn't ready for picking, he'd be yelled at; and if his garden wasn't watered at least five times a day he'd find the shoe being thrown at him. The man, at the end of his working for him, had also used him as a means to get him his drugs—he'd be sent all over to get this drug, or that drug, and, if he didn't return with it "on schedule", he'd be seeing more than a plain angry man strolling towards him. Yes... while he had liked the opportunity of working for the man he had also been looking for some other means of work just to get away from him and his odd fetishes, and garden obsessions.

"Was hired to also be a gardener at Mr. Rovnitov's place but, unlike Mr. Bazulun, Mr. Rovnitov was very calm-based and he listened to the ones who worked for him. While one for an occasional smoke, and maybe a dab or two of coke, he wasn't a druggie either."

Gloar Rovnitov lived down the road a few miles from here; he had a large house, and a wife and two kids. He had worked for the man for about twenty years before his current employer came into his life. TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit, a friend of his former employer, had confided about his being in the market for a gardener and Mr. Rovnitov had pointed him out and then put in a good word about how he was with his garden. Despite the fact that he had struggled in a few of his courses in Staffer's Academy he had started working for his current employer, who's name was on his Loyalty Papers, and who he was forever loyal to, about a week and six days later... he hadn't looked back since, honestly.

Along with working for the man he also lived under his house; apartment 287 had been noticed by him one day when he had been visiting an ill co-worker, who had asked him to get him some stuff from the store so he could get better, and he had seen that the apartment wasn't occupied. After asking his employer about the vacant apartment he had found himself as getting it; he, his wife, Mikia, and their two children were the current residents of the apartment... they were very grateful for having it and in not having to worry about how the next paycheck was going to be split to accommodate the monthly bills and pantry needs.

To that day, he still felt terrible for his actions towards his employer's wife; along with treating her in the verbal custom way that a Goblin did towards ones that they didn't know he had also been physically abusive to her. After hearing that she was his employer's Universal Wife he had still regarded her poorly; it had taken him a while to start treating her right. AI, his employer's wife's initials, were also on his Loyalty Papers—he was just as loyal towards her as he was to her husband. He was glad that she was back and, furthermore, he was glad to see that all of her sons had survived their prolonged stay on Earth and were healthy.

"Mistress," Losal Khrelan said after doing what he had intended to do in the employee lounge and then stepping out. His employer's wife, and her sons, were just now passing by the lounge; he figured it best to acknowledge them.

"Hello," his employer's wife, who sounded rather tired, said in return.

He and she said nothing more to one another; she, and her sons, went on their way and he went on his. Just because he was three-days returned to working in the mansion didn't mean that he could slack off on anything.

"Where you taking us, mom?" Lazeer asked.

"You'll know when we get there." Angel replied.

"Dad's been rather quiet and mysterious since his return," Lhaklar said. "Maybe he asked for us to be brought downstairs or something."

"Please, I spent several hours in that room over the last three days... no more newspapers to read or taped broadcasts to watch." Hazaar groaned, and then pleaded. "Think my eyes have grown allergic to newsprint and to what's shown on the news... they started getting all watery, and then itchy, yesterday."

"Don't think he has anything for us to read or watch," Angel said. "All of what he has in "the museum" has been read or watched by us anyways."

"Do you know?" Hazaar asked. "Momma, do you?"

"I might have an inkling or two to why he wants to see us," Angel replied.

"What is it?" Hazaar asked. His mother said nothing in return.

"Mom's being just as mysterious as the old man is this morning ." Lhaklar chuckled.

And that only made him feel even more curious about what was going on; his father, who had been out of the house for three days, had gotten home that morning, about ten to twenty minutes after breakfast had been served. He had said very little to them—he was still his guardian, and he was still his adoptive parent, and his trip had been fine; this latter thing must of been true because, after they had seen him, they had noted that he looked very fresh-faced and non-tired.

Their mother was tired and there was a very good reason for her to be so—along with taking over the leadership role of the staff and the house she had also been going back and forth from Earth and having to get on Eshal, who had "acted out" on each of the days that the old man had been away. On the morning that their father bid them a temporary good-bye, Eshal had tried to pressure the man into taking her with him; she, for twenty long minutes, had refused to leave the man's side or drop the issue of his taking her with him. A reprimanding had happened just before the man left; Eshal, who had just been left all by her poor lonesome with them, had made a sound akin to a sob and a frustrated sigh before tearing up to the third level. She had locked herself in her bedroom for hours before coming out and then going downstairs—she had spent most of the three days that their father had been away either in her room or with one or more of the Goblins. Their mother had gotten on her more than once during their father's absence—Miss. Eshal either didn't know how much of an "enforcer" ma was or she had forgotten; she had been given a clean reminder of how enforcing their maternal figure was on the three days that dad wasn't in the house.

He and his brothers were clueless as to why she was acting so weird; it might just be a "girl" thing and then it might also be the pure fact that she had been left in a huge house with just ma and them to "keep her company". Lhaklar had also put forth the suggestion that she was scared of them, which they thought was absurd—what had they done to gain such a thing? They might fight and bicker among themselves, and they might have an occasional physical brother-brawl, but they weren't a party to be afraid of. They'd not include her in their fights or hurt her, so she shouldn't be afraid of them.

Their mother had waited until the Goblins had all clocked out and were back in their apartments before going off to Earth; upon her return, she had had a "truckload" of stuff on her. The December editions of their porn-magazines had been given to them, then the other December editions of what they read had been given over and then, as if they needed any further reason to crush her to death with their hugs, she had surprised them with a few packs of smokes and some new models. Hazaar had gotten three packs of Kamel's, Lhaklar had gotten three packs of Black Devils, and he had gotten a "small" bag of pot—ma had not looked pleased over having touched the bag or over having gotten it for him; he had thanked her by giving her a hug, and then a kiss, then he had hid what she had given him.

Three of them fix-blade knives, that had skulls on their blades, that were either a red or yellow or green color, and a cord wrap around their handles, had been given to him before the models had been shown and then distributed.

The first model had been given to Lazeer, who had been slowly slipping into his former depression—up to three days ago, none of them knew about their youngest brother's interest in boats; ma had gotten Lazeer three models boats to do, most of which had been done in two days time.

The Chris Craft model had been done within six hours while the Maine Lobster boat had taken twelve—the Chris Craft model was a plastic model while the model of the Maine Lobster was wood. The third model that he had gotten was of a pirate vessel called Queens Ann Revenge—like with the Maine Lobster, this model was also wood-based; Lazeer was around halfway done with putting it together.

Lhaklar had also gotten three new models to do; the model of the Cadillac Coupe De Vil, that was based off the vehicle that had been made and then put into production in 1949, had been put together in a single day while the model of the Buick Roadmaster Convertible Phaeton, that had been based off the vehicle that had been made and then put into production in 1940, had taken him a day and a half to do. The model of the Ford Tudor Coupe, that was based off the vehicle that had been made and then put into production in 1940, had yet to be done.

Hazaar had gotten two models to do; the model of a mothership was rather big and was going to take him a while to build, which was why he had only gotten two models to do, while the model of the Ascendant Andromeda Starship had taken him a few hours to build and then paint.

Even though Eshal had been a bit of a brat during their father's absence she had also gotten something; apparently, their sister was one who liked doing model representations of animals—ma had gotten her a model kit of a "stallion" that was rearing and she had also gotten her a model kit that had three horses in it that were either grazing or standing still or that were trotting. Eshal had also gotten a cookbook and some sewing and knitting equipment. Despite the thanks given to their mother for her troubles, and thinking of her during her time on Earth, Eshal had still sang like a canary after their father came home—the man, while looking rather shocked and perturbed over hearing that their mother had "done the naughty deed" in going to Earth, hadn't said nor done a thing in removing the items that ma had gotten them from the house. He had probably gone up to see their rooms, and the items that they had gotten, but nothing of what they had gotten had been removed from their possession—due to the smokes all being hidden, he hadn't been able to see or detect them as being in the house or in their rooms. To him, Eshal's tattling on what their mother did while their father was away was a big display of disrespect—ma, while telling them to disregard their sister's action, had said nothing to their sister on ratting her and her activities out.

"Mistress," Eldass said after he and his family had finished their descent down the stairwell that wound around the foyer's right side.

"Hello Eldass." their mother said.

"Master Tazir has asked for me to lead you and the boys to the back door." Eldass said.

"How nice, we're being kicked out the back door." Lazeer, who was feeling very peppy that morning, wasn't able to keep what he had said from bubbling to the surface. Eldass gave him a look, then smiled at him, then started leading them down the foyer's hallway.

"Young Master Lazeer has one fine sense of humor." Eldass said.

"I don't know where he gets it," Angel said. "Definitely not from me."

For some reason, he was overcome with his depression right after he and his family were started on their trek to the house's back door. He looked at the floor, and he said nothing all while on the way to where he and his were being taken; due to his returned depression, he became very robot-like and he also became rather sleepy. They followed the Goblin in order; their mother first, then Bile, then Hazaar, then Lhaklar, and then he bringing up the rear—where his sister was he didn't know and, really, he didn't care. Miss. Prissy Pants, who seemed to not like having them around her, was the last thing on his mind right now.

He put the slow, mechanical breaks on when the Goblin stopped; he was nearly shocked out of his depressed state when the white light showered on him. The hand that grabbed him was gentle yet firm in pulling him towards the light.

"My love, if you'll come and stand by me." TazirVile said. Angel looked at her children; she did a quick count of heads before doing as she had been asked to do.

"No reporters around?" she asked.

"Not that I know of. "TazirVile said. After seeing the look that fell over his wife's face, he said, "I have several of my staff stationed in the yard so, if anyone does get a wild hair up the rear parts, they won't be able to interfere or disturb the boys." After saying this, he turned towards the boys; after seeing that they were all present and accounted for, he clapped his hands. "Alright, all of you are free to explore the yard."

The sky was bizarrely colored—the top portion was a mid-blue color while the middle and lower portions were green and slate gray; the clouds that he was able to see were a lime green and dark blue color and were rather heavy in appearance. There were three spheres in the sky; the bigger of the three was a light gray color while the next biggest was light green. The third was the smallest of the three and was also the brightest; its color was a mixture of silver and light yellow.

The porch, that he was currently standing on, would offer him some cover from the spheres' light; there was a slightly overhanging roof on it and the shade that was provided by the lattice fence, that was around the lower section of the porch, was good. The top portion of the porch was open to the air and elements—quite surprisingly, there was no hint of the storm that had been experienced a few days ago; it was like the storm had been experienced but it hadn't effected anything that was associated with the house. The porch had an eight foot span to it; it was a painted brown color and it had three wicker chairs, that had high backs on them, on it. A path of white stones led away from the porch's three steps. At the moment, his parents were standing by the final step that was on the porch.

Lhaklar was the first of them to venture from the porch; he went down the steps then he went towards the stable. Hazaar trailed his hand along the railing that was to the left of the steps while descending the porch; once on the blue grass terrain, that looked odd when combined with the sky and cloud colorations, he went towards the rocky shoreline that was a distance from the house. Bile, who had just noticed that Eshal was in the yard, picking the flowers that had fallen from the yard's numerous trees up, left the porch quickly. He went towards the shoreline as well.

Lazeer, who was the final one to still be on the porch, came close to crying after finding himself as being all alone. Here were his brothers... they _could_ leave the porch, and they _could_ explore the yard without running the risk or having to worry about their eyes hurting them, and here he was... he _couldn't_ join them because of his photo sensitive eye.

"You didn't turn the lock on the door so we'd be forced to stay out here, right?" Angel asked. Seeing her son, who looked so depressed over not being able to join his brothers in exploring the yard, made her feel low.

"Course not," TazirVile said. He took one look at his youngest son before ascending the porch. "Come on down, son."

"Tazir, don't—" Angel said. Her son had since backed away from the man who was progressing towards him; he was fast in shaking his head in regards to being told to leave the porch.

"Lazeer, there's nothing out here to worry or be scared of. Nothing's going to harm you, now come down." TazirVile said after finishing his ascent up the porch step. "Go on and explore."

"Lazeer, go inside." Angel said. Lazeer gave her a quick look before turning and then going towards the door; he had just reached the door, and had just twisted the door's knob, when his father's hand landed on his arm.

He had no more entered the stable, and then started the process of taking in both the familiar equine faces and the new ones that had either taken the place of the old ones or that had been born and then kept for various reasons before twisting his body around and then racing out. Just hearing his mother yelling, and then screaming, her head off was enough to get his attention; once he was out of the stable, then headed towards the porch, he saw what was going on. The sight of what he saw caused him to put the brakes on; he had never seen such a spectacle happen between his parents before and, honestly, he hoped to never see it again.

His father's back was against the post that held a section of the porch's overhanging roof up; his mother was really giving him an earful about his grabbing Lazeer and about his trying to force one of their children into doing something that he didn't want to do and that could well hurt his health. One look was enough to tell him that his mother's protective side, which could be nurturing as well as scary, had been sparked—he was fast in putting two-and-two together on what happened; his father had obviously tried to force his younger brother from the porch without realizing, or remembering, that he had a photo sensitive eye.

Eldass, the Goblin who had led him and his family to the back door and then out onto the porch, was five or so feet from his parents; while he was slow in strolling over to the Goblin he wasn't slow in speaking to him. Once he reached his side, he noted that Eldass was a bit tense.

"Never seen Mistress Angel behave in such a manner before." the Goblin said. "Rather... terrifying."

"She's not suppose to look beautiful all the time—when she gets into that protective groove she does tend to get a bit scary." Lhaklar said.

"Keeps saying something about Young Master Lazeer's eye—"

"He has P.S.E in his left eye," Lhaklar relayed. Eldass was fast in blinking his eyes; after turning, then seeing who it was that he was talking to, he started listening and carefully. "His sensitivity is only mild-severe, but it's enough to cause him considerable pain if he goes out when the sun's out."

"Does your father know this?" Eldass asked.

"He should—when we were on the ship, we told him about it. We've also spoken about it after being brought here."

"He probably forgot," Eldass mused. "He's a sentient being—like you, me, and your mother, sir. He forgets things just like we do."

"Tell that to my mother." Lhaklar said. He went towards the porch, then tip-toed by his mother, then grabbed his brother; he escorted Lazeer into the house then, seeing as the outing, for the both of them, was ruined, he stayed inside.

He considered going back; with hearing his mother yelling and screaming her fool head off, he considered the option of grabbing Hazaar and then going back to the house. At the last second, he decided to continue as he was—all he was hearing was his mother; his father was either too scared to say anything or he was being wise in keeping his trap shut. He had only to hear the words that his mother was screaming to know that something pertaining to Lazeer had happened and that their father was responsible for it.

He had since taken to leading Hazaar around; his attention, after he and his brother reached the rocky shore, that the ocean was coming in contact with every minute to two minutes, was automatically pulled in the direction of the concrete structure that was to their far right. The pier, he noticed, had new boards on it, and looked rather sturdy; the concrete structure, while looking a little dirty, and while having a bit of moss growing on it, also looked sturdy. When he and his brother reached the structure, they grabbed the sliding steel door then pulled it to the side.

There were more than a couple of Goblins standing at odd places along the shoreline; it was quite obvious that they had been given the order to keep an eye on them and to "stand guard"—of him and his brothers, yes, but only because of the reporters, who were still milling around the property's front gate.

Surprisingly, the door to the structure wasn't locked; he and his brother spent all of two minutes in pushing the heavy door open just enough to allow them to enter. They left the door open after entering the building, which, they were fast in finding out, was as dark as could be on the inside. Before he could light the palm of his hand aflame, a long section of floodlights, that had been built into the structure's ceiling, turned on.

"What is this place?" Hazaar breathed.

"Good question—there looks to be a stall up ahead of us so, maybe it's a stable of some sort." Bile replied.

The corridor, that ran down from the sliding steel door, was long; there were several doors on it that had a small resemblance to that of what would be used on horse stalls—instead of being made of wood they were made of steel, and looked rather heavy. The door to the stall that was in front of them was open; the entire thing was made of steel, which they thought was odd. What was the use for that stall and what was it that could be housed in it comfortably—an animal that had hooves would surely not be comfortable in the stall so they eliminated horses, cows, goats, and sheep from the list of probable owners. They were just starting down the corridor when the sound of ominous baying and howling reaching their ears. The brakes were applied then their flesh became pocked right after the baying and howling was heard.

The baying was loud while the howling was long and low; it was the latter that made them go cold with fear—the people behind the movies that depicted werewolves, or that revolved around werewolves, had the ones who worked the movie's sound and noise backgrounds apply a baying and howling sound that was very similar to what they were hearing to the mythical animals that were in the film. Along with making them long, and sadly overdone howls the werewolves in the films had also yipped, barked, snarled, and growled—while they weren't hearing that they were hearing a lot of baying and howling and, for some reason, scratching.

Hazaar was fast to think of his father having gone and captured an animal that was, sadly, being tortured in the building—with his father being a conqueror, and with his having to "keep in shape" to terrify the ones that he ruled over, he might well be using an animal of some sort to abuse as a way to tone in his abusing skills. Bile, on the other hand, was thinking that the building was a sort of experimenting house where certain animals were taken and then tested on—his adoptive father figure might be using the animals as a way to test certain medicines, or surgical procedures that could benefit the people of his conquered realms or something.

It took Bile a few minutes to remember that his adoptive father had a pack of hunting canines—along with looking rather terrifying, and werewolf-like, they made the same sounds that the movie depicted werewolves did. He came close to laughing after remembering this.

"Brother, I think we watch too many horror movies," Bile said. "We're getting all worked up over the old man's hunting dogs."

"Huh?"

"Follow me,"

He led his brother to the far back wall of the building; after reaching a series of steps, that had been made out of stone, he went down them. In all, it took two minutes to reach the floor that he wanted to go to. Once at his desired destination, he slapped the switch, that went to the level's lights, that was to the left of the stairwell's opening; his eyes were blinked after the light turned on then he suppressed the gasp that wanted to come out.

Hazaar bumped into his brother after exiting the stairwell; with Bile not moving from where he stood, he walked around him. He had no more walked around his brother before coming to a dead stop—what he saw was enough to knock the breath from him.

The kennels were large, and were steel made; the chainlink fence, that ran around their fronts, looked rather strong. The kennels had big, metal dog bowls in them; each had a sort of house in them to accommodate the animals that were in them. When one of the contained beasts lunged at the chainlink front of its kennel, then came in contact with the chainlink fence, a zapping sound was heard—this, alone, told him that the kennels were electrified. A series of loud, bright yellow sparks flew off after the beast collided with the chainlink front of its kennel; the beast merely shrugged its shoulders then walked off—to him, it acted like it was more offended than shocked over being electrified.

"His pack of MoHunds looks to of gotten bigger since our leaving here—there's six to seven extras in here." Bile said after counting the animals that were in the kennels.

"Mo-whats?" Hazaar asked.

"MoHunds—a breed of hunting dog that's native to this planet." Bile explained. "It's a very fast, and very determined, breed... and it's also known to make for one hell of a fine hunting dog."

"How many does he have?" Hazaar asked.

"Counted eleven," Bile replied. "From what I'm seeing, these are the males. I think the old man has the females in another area."

"I'd hate to know what the females look like," Hazaar said. "These things are hideous!"

To him, the animals that were in the kennels were very disproportionately off; the forelegs were nearly four feet long while the back legs were four feet long. The animals were nearly hairless—the black, sparse hair, that was on their haunches and shoulders, was greasy and unhealthy in appearance—and they were a gray color. It looked like they possessed human-like fingers on each of their paws—the non-retractable claws, that were on the ends of each of the animals' human-like fingers, curved; they were very long and sharp. The eyes were yellow and so were the teeth—when the animal nearest him yawned, he was able to see that the teeth that were in its mouth were big and sharp. Most of the animals in the kennels were muscular and stocky; the few immature animals were close to looking the same as the older ones.

The dogs were either not very smart or they didn't give a damn about being shocked by the electrified kennels—several kept jumping at the chainlink fronts of their kennels while others either paced their kennels or stayed in their houses.

"Can we get out of here?" Hazaar asked in a weak voice. "I don't want to be in the building anymore."

"Why're you asking me? I didn't lead you here on a leash—the stairs are behind you, use them instead of asking me to grab you by your hand and then lead you out of here." Bile said. "By the way, this building doubles as Mohund Breeding Central—remember the stall that we saw on the first level? That's where the old man releases the male and female MoHund to do their business."

"Please re-frame from telling me more." Hazaar grimaced.

"Oh now, come on. It is rather educational." Bile said. He decided to gross his brother out. "The male grabs the female, shakes her around a few times then drops her; when she's on her ba—"

"Stop!" Hazaar yelled. "Please, stop. No more!"

"When she's on her back, he mounts her." Bile went on. "He and she fight while they mate—quite a lot of blood is spilled from both animals before the deed's done. The old man comes in with a leash after the male's done his business."

"You're disgusting!" Hazaar exclaimed after placing his hands on either side of his head. "I can't hear anymore! I can't hear you anymore!"

"The female gives birth three months later—the litter size is always the same. Three pups, who attack and then eat their mother after they're born." he was lying; while the claim of the Mohund having three pups per litter was correct the mother dog didn't get attacked or eaten by her babies. The old man separated the mother from her pups after her pups were three months old; after a further two months passed, he separated the males from the females. An assessment on what he was going to keep and what he wasn't would happen afterwards.

With the matter of what was in the building now squared away, they turned then went up the stairs. The light that shown down on the kennels was turned off just before they started ascending the stairs; the baying and howling stopped almost at once after that occurred.

Once they were free of the building, and once the door had been slid to being shut, they turned to look at the ocean. They had no more done so before seeing a boat zooming towards them. A trove of Goblins rushed towards them after the streamlined vessel, that was a blue-gray color, came into view. The camera that was panned on them took plenty of pictures—due to the Goblins' action in rushing at them, and in circling them, the two of them blacked out.

It took Bile all of thirty minutes to be back to normal while, with Hazaar, it took hours; by the time he regained control of his facilities he saw that he was in his bedroom. It took him a short while to notice that he was lying on his bed.


	13. Chapter 13

In the hours that waned between his family's return to the house and supper he paced his office; while he had feared something like what happened earlier happening he hadn't thought about his sons seizing up or about the reporters docking their boat at his pier and then making a rush towards them. Bile had been led to the house by Kalach while Hazaar, who had been too far-gone to move under his own power, had been carried by the Gzujus twins. Bile had been escorted to his bedroom chamber, where he had remained for thirty minutes before leaving to go down to one of the house's game rooms, while Hazaar had taken hours to return to being normal.

His intention had been for his sons to have a bit more freedom, and to be able to explore the yard that was theirs; he hadn't thought about the reporters making any brash decisions on charging at his sons, or snapping their pictures, or about his staff having to escort one or more of his sons to the house after they experienced a black-out.

Angel had been a frantic mess earlier; he presumed that she still was. As if the fight between them wasn't enough for her she had also had to deal with her two sons being reporter-assaulted. He had forgotten all about Lazeer having a photo sensitive eye and he had also forgotten what sensitivity he had inherited from him—mild-severe dammit! While he had the severe ailment his youngest son had the mild-severe ailment... why hadn't he remembered that and why, for the wonder, had he not stopped himself in going to remove Lazeer from the porch? He was a smart man... a smart man who had done a very stupid move that had probably cost him all of what he had achieved over the week and six days that his family had been fully returned to being under his roof!

Eshal was in a fit, still; with seeing her mother fighting him, and with her also seeing her mother push him against the porch railing and then keep him pinned to that post, she had grown fearful for his well-being. In the three hours that lapsed between his and his wife's fight, and the reporters making an appearance, and his two sons being either escorted or carried to the house, he had had to sit her down and talk it out with her on what happened and on what caused the events of what happened to happen.

Angel, his beloved wife, had been acting as any other mother who had seen her child as being threatened would; she had reacted on pure instinct to protect Lazeer and she had been fast in teaching the one who had been trying to hurt him a lesson. Eshal, he feared, hadn't listened or taken any of what he had said to her in; she was now saying that she didn't want anything to do with the woman who had adopted her and she was also saying that she wanted nothing to do with her brothers—the understanding, patient side of him had fallen at just that moment. His daughter had been reprimanded, and then told that she didn't know what she was saying or the meaning behind her words, then she had been sent to her chamber. He was holding onto the hope that some time in her chamber would do her some good in calming down and in coming to her good senses.

He had been told about the model kits, the knives, the magazines, the cookbook, and the sewing and knitting equipment that Angel had gotten for the boys and Eshal; Angel, during his absence, had taken a trip to Earth. He wasn't sweating the trip that she had made—she had come back hadn't she? Instead of having to track her and the boys down, then going through the same routine that he had done between finding them as being missing and then finding where they were, she had returned to the mansion. The ten minutes that followed breakfast had been spent in his sons' chambers—all of what Angel had gotten for the boys had been checked, but none of it had been removed. He had moved a few of the books and magazines that were present on the boys' bookcases; by doing that, he had found the magazines that had been retrieved for them—he had just noted the magazines' presence before making the decision to leave the chambers and then go elsewhere in the house.

With Lazeer having three boat models in his chamber, he was under the impression that he liked boats—this went well with the rest of what he knew about the boys. Now he could add something new to his list of items that the boys seemed to have an interest in. Bile had his knives; Lhaklar had his vintage cars; Hazaar had his spaceships and trains; and Lazeer had his planes, model representations of prehistoric beasts, and boats—all very normal interests for ones their age.

Lazeer, the poor boy that he had tried to porch-evict earlier, had gone up to his chamber right after Lhaklar had escorted him into the house; the model of the Queens Ann Revenge had been worked on right after he reached his room. Lhaklar had taken a trip to the mansion's library; three books, that looked rather heavy, had been retrieved from the library and then taken up to his room. They had been returned to the library two hours later. Lhaklar had been a book-worm as a child; it looked like he was still a book-worm as a mid-teenager—like with the rest of what he knew about the boys, this was good to know.

His wife, as far as he knew, was still making her rounds between the boys' chambers; she was checking on the boys, and making sure that they weren't stressed out, or suppressing any feelings that they shouldn't be suppressing. He was holding onto the hope that she'd calm down—she was worried about the boys, and her worry was being expressed in the right area, but he worried that she might be too worried. The idea of her actually running off with the boys after today's events was enough to make him want to cry—he didn't want to lose her or their children and he didn't want to go through a repeat of what he had gone through after finding them as missing sixteen hundred years ago.

He paced his office a dozen to two dozen more times before deciding to use the phone that was on his desk; the landline, three days ago, had been "severed" as a way to help his wife, who hadn't needed to be bogged down with having to answer the phone or taking down message after message for him. After getting home, he had returned the landline to working order—only one call had come in since the line was returned to being able to be used. Once seated, he grabbed the handset to the black French phone; the rotary was used around twenty times before he sat back in his chair.

"Hello, you've reached the Ubalki residence, how might I help you?" the voice that answered was unmistakable—Qeeta, his younger and only full-sibling, was the one on the phone's other end.

"You really need to think about becoming a secretary, Sis." TazirVile said.

"Tazzy!" QeetaVile exclaimed. "How are you? It's been nearly two weeks since—"

"I've been very busy, Sis." TazirVile said. "Is mother around? I need to speak with her."

"Mom!" TazirVile held the phone away from the side of his head; his sister was screaming for their mother.

"Tazir," his mother's voice rang true a few minutes later, "was wondering when we'd hear from you. What's going on?"

"Think I'll be paying you fine people a visit here in a few days," TazirVile relayed. "L—"

"Paying us a visit? How've things been with the boys? With Angel?"

"Going slow, but that's normal and good—I don't want things to go but so fast over here." TazirVile replied. "Me and the wife have had a few fights—normal ones, and on normal things. The most recent one happened earlier this morning. The recent one that we had is the reason to why I'll be coming over to pay you and yours a visit."

"What happened? You tell me all that happened and you leave not a detail out."

He didn't do the full extent of what had been demanded of him—while he spoke of what was going on with Angel and the boys, and with him, he didn't speak of how Eshal felt about the boys, or her mother, for that matter. He felt that he could handle that area, and that he could turn Eshal around. After telling his mother about the happenings of his house, and then about his going to Brol to see if the two court orders that revolved around Bile were still good, he listened as she spoke of things that were going on at her place—he was one to call the place _the old farm_ and he didn't stray from using that title during that part of the conversation. When he said that there was a fifty percent chance that he, his wife, and Lazeer were going to swing over to say hello he was surprised to hear his mother saying for him to not do so—after hearing what he had planned for tomorrow, she said for him to just scratch the visit.

His old plan of simply mailing his mother's, and her family's, invites to them was still in place after his call was concluded. Once he and his mother's conversation was over, he hung the phone up then got up from his chair. He stretched, then gave his office a quick once-over, then went down to the house's smaller kitchen.

He wasn't in the kitchen no more than five minutes before finding his daughter jumping at him.

"I feel like it was a big mistake to find and then bring them here." Eshal said. "They give off a bad vibe."

"Eshie, you're scared and for no good reason. Your mother was defensive towards me for a reason. I was trying to—"

"Get him to leave the porch and then explore the yard—I know, daddy. You told me." Eshal interrupted him. "I think she's lying about his eye. I don't think Lazeer's got a thing wrong with his eye."

"He does, Eshal. He does have a form of my eye ail—"

"How can you be sure of that?" he found himself as being interrupted again. "He could be faking the pain, and the scream, and he could also be faking the fact of his eye hurting him after he goes out in sun or ray-light." it was quiet between them for a few minutes before she said, "I think she has only them on her mind and in her heart, daddy. She's forgotten all about us, and about the love that she had for us."

"Eshal, I'm only going to tell you this once." he was sick of hearing his daughter speak like this. She was letting her fear take her over, which was a very unwise and unhealthy thing to do. "Your mother's instincts are wrapped around you and your brothers—she acts according to you kids, honey. She loves all of us dearly, and that does include me—when time comes around for her to defend you kids, I get placed as the seventh in the line... as it should be, but that doesn't mean that she doesn't love me. When you're a parent, your kids govern your every action."

"It shouldn't be that way!" Eshal exclaimed. She said no more; she threw her hands up then left the room.

Angel's home-cooked fish had tasted delicious; there was still a little bit of what Lhaklar had caught, and that Angel had cooked, so he fixed that up for lunch. The meat from Lhaklar's deer had been cooked and then a quarter eaten during his absence; he made himself a venison sandwich then, after careful thought, he made his sons one too. A meal of lobster had been consumed yesterday so he took the remnants of that then made a salad; once the meal, which, in his standards, was very light, was complete, he pressed the button that'd alert his family about lunch being ready then he went to the dining room. He placed all of what he had prepared on the table then waited; his family, Eshal and his wife included in the mix, joined him two to three minutes later.

He found himself as getting a surprise after Angel took her seat. She reached over, grabbed his hand, then pulled him over for a hug and kiss.

"And what's that for?" he asked playfully.

"An apology, of sorts. I shouldn't of jumped all over you earlier." Angel responded. "Instead of jumping at you, then pushing you against the porch post, I should of reminded you about Lazeer having a form of P.S.E."

"Don't you put further worry in on it, My Love." TazirVile said. "You was protecting our child. I, as his father, should of remembered that he has the ailment in one of his eyes."

"Is Eshie alright?" Angel asked after noticing that Eshal hadn't touched anything that she had put on her plate. "Gosh—I hope I didn't frighten her!"

"She's a bit unsettled—doing my best to explain the reason to why you reacted in the way that you did towards me this morning." TazirVile relayed. "She's a teenager and, thus, isn't taking what I'm saying to her in to the fullest extent."

"You don't have to be afraid of anyone, Eshal." Angel said. "I'm not going to hurt you and neither are your brothers—the boys, they can be unruly at times, but they mean no harm to you. They're boys, and they're going to rough-house, and pick fights among themselves, but they won't turn on you."

"It's not me that I'm worried about." Eshal lied.

"Eshal, what your mother just told you is true." TazirVile said. "Boys are much more unruly than girls—they fight among themselves; they rough-house, and have more manly interests in mind to do; and they do tend to have a more joke-like mind to them. When one of the male gender is around one of the female gender they tame down—surely you know this; you've seen how me and Gloar are when we're around one another, and when you suddenly show up."

"You're men, not boys." Eshal said.

"Doesn't matter," TazirVile said. "Adult or not, a male will act according to his sex when he's around his own gender."

"It's true, sis." Bile spoke up. "Ma's never seen or heard me acting male around her and I can vouch for my brothers on her not seeing them act male around her either."

"Well... except for Lazeer." Hazaar said. "And that's only when he goes a bit too far with his jokes."

They finished the meal after his daughter continued to not accept the facts that were being presented to her; the room had a very gloomy-like feeling to it that robbed them of their appetites but they ate anyways. When everything was eaten, and when everyone was done with eating, they sat back in their chairs; he put in a few minute wait before going on in asking his youngest son about when he had gained an interest in boats.

Lazeer was fast in saying that he had gained an interest in boats twenty years ago; Angel claimed that she had come upon him watching one of them boat selling channels a few years ago, which was validated by Lazeer—whenever he and Lhaklar watched a program on one fishing, Lazeer was more interested in the boats that the ones who were fishing were on than in the fish that were being caught.

After getting a confirmation on his son's boat interest he decided to discuss his plan for tomorrow.

"So, how soon do you think he'd like to get his glass?"

"Pardon?" Angel gave him a puzzled look.

"I'd like for Lazeer to get fitted for a goggled glass," TazirVile clarified. "I can pay for it, and I have no problem in paying for it, and for the two replacements for it, and for the cases for the three glasses, and the drops that he'll need after he's accidentally exposed to sun or ray-light. When do you think it'll be appropriate for him to get his glass?"

"As soon as we know what them reporters intend to do with what they—"

"Tomorrow!"

"Hot damn, can you try any harder to make me go deaf!" Hazaar exclaimed. He tapped the right side of his head three times before giving his head a shake.

While willing to go on in his plan in taking them to Zeta Ren, then to an Optometrist that would fit his son for what he needed, and while he was also willing to wait to see what came about with what the reporters had managed to take of his sons, he wasn't able to comment any further on his taking his wife and son to Zeta Ren. His wife was adamant that they stay inside, and wait it out until what had been taken of Bile and Hazaar was exposed to the public, while his youngest son was adamant about his getting his glass—the two had a war of words for all of five minutes before Angel said for Lazeer to get up and then go upstairs. Lazeer was said to be grounded for the rest of the day—he grumbled the entire time that he was leaving the room, which warranted his getting half of the following day tacked onto his punishment.

TazirVile had stayed quiet throughout the fighting; he felt like he had betrayed his son by not joining him in getting his mother to say yes on getting his glass tomorrow but he also knew that his wife was right—a hailstorm of publicity would happen if whatever had been taken by them reporters was shown to the public. Taking his son out during that hailstorm might not be the best of things to do—with the break in his search occurring on Zeta Ren, he was sure that the planet was swarming with reporters, who were doing their best to get the best scoop possible on what was going on with him and his.

He dismissed his family from the room then, seeing as his son was in such a glum mood, and had just been grounded and then sent to his room, he decided to do a little spoiling. There was a chocolate coconut cake in the house's smaller kitchen's refrigerator; it was half eaten, and would spoil if it wasn't eaten within the next few days. He cut his youngest son a better than decent sized slice of the cake then he took it up to him. His son thanked him after receiving his piece of cake a few minutes later.


	14. Part 2

When he and his family had been on Earth, he had based the time in getting up from when Hazaar set his alarm at; now that he had his very own room, and his very own alarm clock, he was relying on himself to set the clock to the appropriate time to get up. His alarm was set for its usual time—eight a.m.—but he found himself as getting up earlier than that. The hand that shook him from dreamland did so right when the time on his B-17 Jet Aircraft Military alarm clock turned from being 5:29 to 5:30; he grumbled, but he didn't snap at the one who woke him three hours before he was scheduled to do so.

After pushing himself up, then rubbing the sleep out from his eyes, he looked around; he was stunned beyond words after seeing that his father was in his room and that he had been the one to wake him up.

"Get up, and get dressed quickly." he heard his father say.

"Why?" his sleep-clogged voice asked.

"Don't ask questions, son. Just do as I say and quick."

His father, while on the way out, turned the light on; he blinked his eyes a few times before throwing the sheets from him then going on to his dresser.

The last two days had been a bit chaotic for him and his family; the reporters, who had docked their boat at the pier and then come rushing towards Bile and Hazaar, had shown all that they had captured on film on the news. All sorts of could-be's had been spoken of on them, and all sorts of "experts" had weighed in on what they thought was going on in the mansion. After word was spread about their being seen outside, a slew of reporters, riding all sorts of boats, had come in from the ocean. They had either docked their boats at the pier or waited at sea to see if another sighting of them occurred; the old man had not been happy over seeing his land being trespassed on, or over his family being harassed—the old Foggy, while saying nothing after they started coming in, hadn't been happy after seeing them as using his pier or after seeing their numbers as growing within each half-hour to hour. Dad had gone out at one o'clock to see if he could speak to the people about vacating his property; when the nice routine didn't work, and they remained docked on his pier, he went out again—but, this time, he hadn't been nice or pleasant with them. He had been right mean and forceful with the ones who had docked their boats on his pier and with the ones who he had deemed as being too close to the shore that he owned. When the mean and forceful routine didn't work, he had retrieved a weapon and then gone out—he had threatened to take each and every one of them to court for harassment and trespassing charges.

The act of his having a gun on his person had done wonders in making the ones who had docked on his pier to move away; a little more persuasion had needed to be done for the ones who had been too-close to the shore had needed to be done after the pier-users vacated the pier. The reporters had moved to about twenty feet from the shore—as far as he knew, they were still out there and at that distance today. According to Hazaar, the gun that the old man had wielded, and then shot towards the sky after seeing himself as not being taken seriously, was a Stevens Conlin Target Pistol—a type of gun that was a single-shot and that had been made between the 1920's and the 1940's.

He and his brothers had taken what Hazaar had said for granted; Hazaar had watched several programs on guns while on Earth over the past few years, so he was pretty smart about guns.

The models that they had gotten two days ago had been done; each was now on display in their rooms. Their mother, as a way to keep them calm when the trespassing reporter situation occurred, had made another trip to Earth.

A model kit of the Spirit of Mississippi had been retrieved for him; the model was based off the historic riverboat called the Spirit of Peoria, which was a cruiser that was still, on occasion, seen cruising the Mississippi River. It was a big model and he was doing the best that he could in putting it together—there were a lot of parts to it so he had to be careful of what all he did with it. At the moment, he had the lower body and a quarter of the first and second levels done; he was planning on putting the paddlewheel, the steam engine, and the ornately decorated smokestacks on last. The cabins, with their various items, was what was keeping him from saying that the model was complete—each cabin had all the fixin's, like beds, dressers, couches, and bathroom items like toilets, sinks, and mirrors, to them; he was doing each cabin as he came upon them.

The boat's second level was said to have a bar on it; the stickers that were associated with the bar's various items had already been placed on their items. He was hoping to get to doing the bar today. Tomorrow, he was hoping to do the ballroom, which was on the boat's first level—tables with chairs; a piano; and a stage, where a feminine plastic figure was suppose to stand on, and that a microphone was already on, went with that part of the model. The game room, that was on the model's top level, was going to be the easiest of the levels to build—a pool; game tables, that had card games already glued on them; benches; a croquet game, that came complete with all the fixin's that were associated with the game; and more than enough flags and banners went with this part of the model. All of this and more—the plastic barrels, the crates, the other figurines that had come with the model, the lounge chairs, the life preserves, the chains, the lights, and the lines that would further stabilize the model, and the ladders—went with the model. He was hoping to do it up good as it was a better than grand model and it would look nice in his room. His brothers were looking forward to seeing his model after it was complete and, really, so was he.

Lhaklar had gotten two new models; the resin model of the 1929 Bentley 4.5 Litre had been done quickly—his brother had painted that baby a nice, shiny green color. The next model that he had done had taken them all by surprise—ma had gotten him a model kit of the vehicle that was owned and driven by Nemo in The League of Gentlemen; Lhaklar had wasted no time in putting that piece of art together. Except for the grille, the hubcaps, the fenders, and the head and tail lights, his brother's second model had been painted an all white color. Lhaklar had no more opened the box to the Nautilus before finding a 50% off coupon for the the Munster Koach—a vehicle that had been used in the show, The Munsters—and he had no more finished the Nautilus before showing their mother it. Along with saying the usual on if he behaved for the next few days, and caused no mishaps to occur between he and his brothers, she had said that she'd "see" about getting him the model.

A steampunk train model, that looked like a freaky representation of a train-submarine hybrid, had been purchased for Hazaar; the model had come with the engine and three cars... Hazaar had been fast in breaking open the box and in going to work in putting it together. As of last night, he was close to being done with the engine.

Bile, who had gotten no models to do a few days ago, had also gotten a few models; the model of an alien monster, who was holding a near-naked woman, who was bound and gagged, in its arms, had been done in one day while the model of Freddy Krueger, who had all the souls trying to come out from his chest, stomach, and shoulders, he was still doing. Dad had been fast in giving their mother a warning on not bringing anymore models like that of the monster who was holding the near-naked woman back for one of them to do again—ma had done a "mischievous" smile before saying _of course dear_.

"Even though she's still being a brat, Eshal was also given something." he thought while getting into the shower that was in the room's adjacent bathroom.

A plush toy of a tiger cub, that one had to build, had been given to Eshal before the model kit of a horse, that had its neck craned high, and a better than noticeable crest on it, had been shown and then handed over. Eshal had yet to get to the plush toy; the model horse she had made up to resemble one of their father's stallions—it had been painted a "flea-bitten" gray color and it had a "creamy" mane and tail. According to his sister, the horse that she had based the model on was called Rhoosod.

He showered, then brushed his teeth, then got dressed, then left his room; the dark gray mesh shirt, and the dark red jeans, that were ripped on the left knee only, but that were pretty well ripped on the hems, were him to the core while the dark grey shoes, that had a light grey stripe on their sides, were near-new. He was just starting in on making his bed when his mother walked in; she, who looked to be in a big hurry, beckoned for him to come on and he, not wanting to make any disputes with her, complied with her wish.

"What's going on?" Lazeer asked his mother.

"You'll know in just a few minutes" his mother replied.

She was very nicely dressed, and it looked like she had spent a little time in making herself look "pretty"; the makeup that was on her eyelids, lips, and cheeks was slight, yes, but he was able to see it. The pair of dark blue harem pants had a frill around their waist; the band that was on the frill, while being a faux gold color, contrasted rather well with the main color of the piece of clothing. The blue, slip-on shoes, that were on her feet, went well with her worn pants and so did her shirt—ma looked good in anything but, at the moment, she looked better than stupendous in her baby blue chiffon shirt, that had a ruffled front and that was lacking its sleeves. The blue topaz and bead necklace, that was around her neck, had come from him; he was glad to see that she was wearing it and he was also glad to note that she was wearing the bracelet that had come with the necklace as well. The piece of jewelry that was his mother's wedding ring was on its finger; on the middle finger of that same hand was a blue sapphire ring that had a gold band on it—personally, he thought that the second ring was pale in comparison to her wedding ring.

Even though he wanted to know what was going on, and why he had been aroused from a too-early sleep, he kept his mouth shut; he was sure that he'd find out soon enough about what was "in store" for him that early morning.

He followed his mother down the third level's hallway, then down the stairs that connected the third level to the second, then down the hallway that was on the second level before stopping; she had put a pause to leading him after reaching the open door that belonged to the room that she and his father slept in—she was now a frequent sleeper in that room and he was quite sure that, if not now then soon, he'd have a new sibling in her stomach. With a woman as beautiful as her, it was hard to believe that his father wasn't "doing her". She went into the room, then piddled around for a minute or two, before leaving; he resumed his prior action of following her after she started down the hallway again.

"Either it's me or it's cold in here." he thought after reaching the foyer. With everyone either still being in bed, sleeping until their alarms went off, or still doing their morning routines, the mansion was rather chilly and it had a bit of a creepy feeling to it.

He had just suppressed a shiver when his father walked into view; it took him all but a second to see that he had something draped over his arm. He could see the striped, dark gray tuxedo jacket but he could also see that there was some sort of something hanging from it.

"We have fifteen minutes," TazirVile said after gesturing for them to follow him out the front door.

"Will we make it?" Angel asked.

The question of 'will we make it' buzzed around in his head like annoying mosquitoes—where were they going and what was it that his father had in store for them?

A fine, but quite heavy, mist was hanging over the artificial blue grass of the front yard; while he wanted to stop, and take in what he was seeing, he knew that he shouldn't. If they were to "make it" to wherever they were going then sightseeing wasn't allowed—he could stop and count the roses after what was in store for him and his mother was known and then attended.

Something told him to walk beside his mother, and to not speak or ask any questions; he was nervous, and a bit scared, but he knew that, with his mother being nearby, he was going to be fine. If it had just been he and his father, he might of been a bit slow in following him, and he would, without a doubt, be very nervous of what all he was headed towards. The crazy idea of his being taken to a doctor, who would perform a surgery that would evict his photo sensitive eye, crossed his mind twice while on the way to the garage; the idea of his father sending him to some sort of educational facility, so to get rid of him so he could father offspring that he could do a better imprint on, also crossed his mind but it wasn't as strong as the one about the surgeon taking his left eye out. He was just remembering the fact that the reporters were still stationed at the front gate and fence when he realized that he was in a large structure—the surface under his feet was concrete, the ceiling and walls were a dull goldish-brown color, and there were more than enough vehicles in the building to keep one happy for a while. A quick glance told him that there were more than fifty vehicles in the building; they were all lined up in neat rows, and all of them looked rather expensive.

He saw a few Model T-like cars and limousines; a few golf carts, and tractors and riding lawn mowers; and he also saw a bunch of luxurious vehicles that looked to cost a fine penny. Most of the vehicles had a sheet draped over them; the one that his father was going towards looked like one of them Tiffany Classic Coupe's that had been in production from 1986 to 1988—the only difference was that the car was longer than the typical Tiffany Coupe and, once he was able to get in, and then take in the interior, it had four seats instead of just plain two. The car was a right shiny gray color—it was a shade between being gray and silver—and it had two tire mounts on its sides that, he guessed, contained two spare tires.

"Ma..." he said after getting into the car, then taking in its interior.

"Hold on, son." TazirVile said. He pushed the key into the ignition, then applied the seatbelt over himself, then drove them from the garage. "Let me teleport this baby to our location first then you can ask all the questions that you want."

He had just swung the seatbelt over himself, and had just pushed the buckle into the cinch, when the zapping sensation was felt; feeling this freaked him out for all of a few seconds before he calmed down. The zapping sensation was followed by a staticky sound, that only elevated his stress levels, then a near-blinding white light was seen before the destination that they were being taken to was seen—he had never gone through such an experience before, which was why he was so nervous about what he was both feeling, hearing, and seeing. Whenever Bile teleported a vehicle, there was a staticky sound, and a slight zapping feeling, but no near-blinding white light was seen and, in fact, his teleportation of a vehicle was right steady and smooth in comparison to what he had just gone through—which, he was quite sure, was the car being teleported to some location that was a distance from "home".

When he looked out the window, that was to his immediate left, he saw that there were cars just before them and that they were on the outskirts of a town; due to the windows being tinted, he wasn't effected by the rays of the star that whatever planet he was on orbited.

The soil, that was on either side of the road, was desert-like in appearance; it was red in color, which did well to bring out the shine in the road, which was yellow. The grass that he was able to see was either brown or yellow in color—it was like the nutrients in the stalks had been depleted, or like he was in a real desert-like environment. The clouds in the sky were orange while the star that the planet orbited was red; the sky looked to match the colors of what was around him—it wasn't two-tone, or three-tone, but a whole sheet of light orange.

His father drove down the street for a short stretch; at first, the buildings of the town were sparse then, after a minute or two passed, they flanked them on both sides. After driving down the street for a few minutes, his father pulled over then shut the car off; for a fraction of a second, he thought that the man was going to tell him and his mother to get out. He imagined his mother's shocked face after they got out, and after the old man drove away, leaving them all by their lonesome, and he also imagined her fury and her concern for his brothers, who's fates weren't known. After ten seconds passed, his father turned to look at him.

"Know where you are, son?" his father asked.

"No,"

"Think a little before you answer so quickly—I'll give you a little clue on where you are. You, your mother, and Lhaklar were seen here a few times in August."

"We were?" Lazeer blinked his eyes then looked out the window. "Ma—"

"Uh-uh, honey. You figure it out." his mother said.

He, his mother, and Lhaklar had visited this place in August? Of that year, or of some year in the present? At the moment, he drew a blank on where he could be—it took him a minute to put some of the puzzle pieces to his father's weird question together.

He and Lhaklar had taken a trip with their mother to two planets that year; one had been in the Zeta Reticuli system while the other had been in the RO-82 Galaxy, which was two to three galaxies away from the Zeta Reticuli system and which was mostly inhospitable to people. He and Lhaklar had mostly followed their mother around; when the chance presented itself, they had taken in the sights, and had rough-housed and goofed around... they had let the bit on their rough-housing go after reaching a park-like setting on one planet while, on another, they had rough-housed in a valley-like area.

He thought about what he had seen as he looked at the area around him after coming up empty on an answer to his father's question. The soil was red, and was desert-like in appearance; the road was yellow; the sky was a light orange color, while the clouds that were in it were a plain orange color; the grass was either yellow or brown in color, and it looked rather zapped of all nutrients; and the star that's rays was giving the planet light and warmth was red.

He was just giving out a sigh, and shaking his head, when the answer to his father's question came to him.

"Zeta Ren?"

"Yes, son. The very planet that the break in my case in trying to find you, your brothers, and your mother occurred on." TazirVile replied.

"Why're we here?" Lazeer asked.

"Your daddy called a man by the name of Navub Babusa early this morning," Angel answered for her husband, who had gone to restart the car. "He set up an appointment for you, which is to happen at six o'clock."

"Navub Babusa? Isn't that the guy who..."

It became clear over why he had been aroused from a sound sleep so early—the old man had wanted to take him to get his goggled glass two days ago but, due to the reporters harassing Bile and Hazaar, and taking their picture, and mom's concern over the reporters possibly playing the grab and then separate routine with him after he appeared on Zeta Ren, that hadn't been able to be done. The old Foggy had, obviously, decided to take him to get his goggled glass today—he was so excited that he could barely sit still!

Navub Babusa had been the man that he and his mother had seen in late-August; mom had heard that he was cheaper than most Optometrists and she had decided to look into him and see if she could get him fitted for his glass. Instead of leaving the building with a glass, that'd permit him to have a normal life in being able to go outside when it was light out, he and she had just left with some medicated drops—which he no longer had due to his using them all up while being on Earth. Mr. Babusa had said that he charged $2,100 for his glasses; while his mother hadn't been able to pay for the glass that he had needed right away she, and Lhaklar, had been working really hard to get the dough squared away so he could get it—his father, who was "bursting at the seams" with cash, might well be able to purchase him a glass, some drops, and a case to go with it.

He saw several buildings, that were either quite tall or that looked a bit too wide for the block that they were on; the rest areas that he was able to see had a few buses in them. They were appropriately sized for their intended use but, curiously, there were no benches or any other sit-on items in them. He saw several grocery and convenience stores after the business buildings passed them by; the restaurants were small in size but looked rather packed of patrons. He was just taking in the pizzaria, that was a strange, red, orange, and green color, when the market was noticed—he had been seen in this market and he had also been chased after being approached by his uncle, Amadh Ubalki, while being in this market... and he had also stolen from this market. Amadh Ubalki had given him a scare and he had run; the magazine that he had had on his person at the time he had meant to return but, due to his fear, and to Amadh's chasing after him, he hadn't been able to return it to the rack that it had been on. He had run off with it and, honestly, he still had it.

It took his father a few minutes to get to the portion of the town where a line of medical buildings were; when the car was pulled over, then slowed to a mere crawl, he came close to groaning. There was a throng of reporters standing all around the building owned and operated by Mr. Babusa. It looked like they had been waiting for them, which gave him a slight scare.

"Taz..." Angel said. She had been content and happy before seeing the reporters; now that she knew that the building that they were going to was virtually blocked by reporters, she was nervous and unhappy. "Maybe we should—"

"Lazeer, if you'll please climb up into the front seat." TazirVile said while shutting his car off. With the key to the ignition removed from the ignition, and being returned to his pocket, he turned to look at his wife. "It'll be alright—had a feeling that the line was tapped both before, during, and after I got through talking to Mr. Babusa."

"I don't like this, Tazir." Angel said. Lazeer clambered over the backs of the front seats; he came close to sitting on her lap after finishing his climb. "You know how reporters are... maybe we should—"

"It'll be fine." TazirVile reassured her. With that said, he reached down to grab the garment that was between his legs. "Son, are you familiar with the invisibility cloak?"

In a sense, his answer to that question was a no. He knew the basics about the garment that his father had just asked him if he knew but he didn't know the full scope about it—it was a garment that, when worn, would make its wearer become invisible. Private investigators, criminals who didn't want their dealings to be noticed by anyone, and normal-day civilians who wanted to surprise someone or keep their activities a secret were said to be frequent users of it. Mr. Uijah Chajol, his old Teleportation teacher at Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic, had done a small side-lesson on the garment one day after the main lesson had been given—ten minutes of listening to him talk about the cloak had happened before the bell tolled; Mr. Uijah Chajol had let him and his classmates make the decision in learning more about the garment.

While he knew the garment's purpose, and some of its history, he had never seen one... or seen anyone using one, for that matter.

"Mr. Chajol did a small lesson on it," Lazeer said. "While I did do a read-up on it I've never seen one, or seen one being used."

"The teachers at that school seem to be skipping a few important lessons—while teaching one about the cloak isn't a necessary it should still be taught for various reasons." TazirVile said. "The cloak, son, is a combination of a special-made, but turned inside out, fabric and a spell—you never see the garment but you can feel it."

"Okay," Lazeer was wondering why his father was telling him this.

"I have one here," TazirVile swung his arms up then over Lazeer. Lazeer felt the heaviness of something fall over him; he felt the garment's fabric, which seemed very light to him, but he wasn't able to see any of it. He poked at what was over him before turning and then looking at his mother.

"Ma?"

"I know you're beside me but I can't see you." Angel said.

"Dad turned me into a ghost!" Lazeer said excitedly. "I get to haunt some people now."

Pillow talk, these past two nights, had consisted of his wanting to get Lazeer his glass and Angel being concerned for their child in regards to the reporters—she was worried about his being scared, or unintentionally hurt, by one of the people who did their reports for the various news agencies while he was quite confident in his abilities over being able to protect their child and keep the situation controlled. While the reporters were getting annoying, and while he was growing increasingly frustrated with their constant presence, he was confident in knowing that they'd not try anything else of what occurred two days ago—and especially not in a public place, where other cameras were tuned in to what was going on and where there were civilian witnesses present. It had taken all of last night for him to convince his wife that all would be fine and that he could take care of anything that happened while they were on Zeta Ren—the question of his leaving Angel behind had not been asked or given any thought; wherever Lazeer, or any of the other boys, went their mother was surely to go along with.

Unlike he, who hadn't been understood about his little problem, Lazeer was understood and he had someone to assist him in getting him what he needed for his ailment to not effect him when he was out in broad sun or ray-light. When his P.S.E had been discovered, his father had been at home while his mother, who he had inherited his ailment from, hadn't; his father, who had known nothing about P.S.E at the time, had put him through more than enough hell with the eye-care specialists that he had hired to look into his care—pain, and a whole hell of a lot of it, had been experienced with each of them ten eye-care specialists and his father, being the too-tough bird that he was, had done nothing but yell at him to pipe down and suck it in. His mother, after returning home from visiting relatives, had set his father straight on what was going on with him; the "eye-care specialists" had no longer come to the house to see him... he had been taken to Zeta Ren, then to an appropriate eye-care specialist, who had described his ailment and then prescribed him the adequate gear that he had needed. His son wasn't about to experience what he had; he wasn't about to go through ten "eye-care specialists", or through the pain that they'd cause him to go through, and he wasn't about to be told to "pipe down" or "suck it in" either. Lazeer was also not going to be forced into sitting under the shade, or sit things out because of the sun, or star or spheres, that his home-planet orbited were out and in the open. He had gotten up two hours ago; a phone call to Navuba Babusa had been made, then an appointment had been scheduled, then he and his wife had taken a shower and then gotten dressed, then Lazeer had been aroused.

The telling of his having an invisibility cloak on his person had taken care of most of his wife's anxiety. If all went well with Lazeer's appointment, and if his wife and son felt up to it, he had plans to take them, and their brothers and sister, out for a meal—home-cooked food was the best food one could consume but, on occasion, it was best to add in a little restaurant made food into one's diet; it was time to get his sons a little acquainted with the socializing game and what better way to do that than to take them out for a meal.

"Alrighty folks, let's tie the laces and buckle the belts." TazirVile said while opening the door to the driver's side of his vehicle. "Let's go."

TazirVile plopped his hand on his son's head before getting out of his vehicle; his son slid out behind him while Angel got out from the vehicle's other side. It took all but a second before he noticed where his son was—the boy had "bumped" into him in his haste to get out of the vehicle then he had run around the vehicle to his mother; the back of his wife's shirt had an indent on it from where his son had grabbed it. While he was able to see this, and detect the reason to why there was a clump sticking out from the back of his wife's shirt, the reporters weren't—all of the reporters ran over to him; they asked him a slew of questions, and they stuck their microphones in his face, while his wife and their son were able to enter the building unscathed. He followed them to the building a minute and a half to two minutes later. Once in the building, he grabbed his son's cloak then pulled it off him; the cloak was given to his wife, who silently draped it over her arm.

"Mrs. Vile-Surfeit, nice to see you after so long." Navub Babusa, a male Zetakin who had a crown of brown hair, and triangular-shaped eyes that were a golden-brown color, said after seeing the trio in the building.

"Hello, Mr. Babusa." Angel said. "I believe that my husband made an appointment with you."

"Yes, he did." Navub Babusa nodded his head.

Who in their right mind would phone another at 3:30 a.m.? The question had rang around in his head right after his phone went off; he had let it ring until, after the second call came in, rolling over and then picking it up. TZSUR had been on his caller I.D.; he, in his underwear, had answered it, then had answered all of his new client's questions, then had agreed to make the appointment—which would be the earliest made one that he had ever done in his career as an Optometrist.

While he had kept up-to-date on the search, and on what was going on with his late-August customer, he hadn't been able to get as excited as everyone else had been about it; after Mrs. Vile-Surfeit, and her young son, appeared in his building, and then were identified for who they were, he had found himself as being swamped by either news reporters, who had asked him constant questions on his two surprise customers, and new patients. He had experienced a boom in patients for all of two months before the normal patient-flow returned—with his having double his usual clientele, he had hardly been able to rest much less enjoy any personal time with his family. After two months passed, and his patient-flow returned to normal, he had sighed and then started spending time with his family—all of the excess money that he had made off of his new customers had gone towards his wife and their two daughters and sons, one having been sired by another man but who was being raised by him. A few meals in his family's restaurant of choice had been done; Yoshiah had gotten a few dresses; Falvia and Ica had gotten a few cosmetic interests; and Jeeji and Framad had gotten some of the things that they had been asking for, or showing an interest in. Jeeji, the son sired by a different man, had also been taken a science museum, and then fair, after the patient in-flow returned to normal.

Since he had known that the good times would, one day, come to an end he had put the rest of the money that he had earned through his business into his and his wife's savings, where it was still.

"She said that she'd be back and she held true to that," he thought after checking the name that had been added to his business's sign-in sheet. With that done, he led his customer, and his customer's parents, down the hall then into the room where the examination would take place.

Lazeer, who had been known as Reezal during his first examination, took a seat then placed his head up against the device that the test would be given through. After taking his seat before the boy, then looking through the device's other end, he noted that there was a bit of damage to the eye that he had examined in August—the left eye's coloration was darker, due to its P.S.E, and it looked a bit "burned", which would only happen after prolong exposure to the rays of either a sun or a star occurred. After careful examination, he deduced that the boy's sensitivity hadn't worsened—it was still mild-severe.

He did the sun and ray-light tests—ten tests did the trick in telling him that the boy was effected by all of the known suns and stars in the Universe; with his not wanting to damage the eye further, or cause his patient any further grief, he kept the number of tests down to ten. After doing the tests, he gave him some drops then stood up. The process of making the boy his goggled glass started afterwards.

"You think he tortured me enough, ma?" Lazeer asked. His left eye was throbbing a little, and was giving him a little grief, but he was glad to finally be getting fitted for a glass. The whole ordeal with the examination, and its allotment of tests, had taken a lot out of him—he was exhausted!

"Was wondering that myself." Angel replied. She had forced herself to not rush forward after her son started crying out after the tests were started on him; she knew that the testing was important, but hearing her son scream out like he had had nearly blinded her. "You alright, Lazie?"

"Eye's throbbing a little," Lazeer replied. "but I'm fine."

"You did well, son—ten tests is a good number for your sensitivity." TazirVile said. "Went through double that when I was a kid."

"What's your sensitivity again?" Lazeer asked his father.

"Severe," TazirVile replied. "And in both eyes. You got off lucky with having just one eye afflicted with the ailment, and in a lesser degree as mine to boot."

"What's the difference between mild-severe and severe?" Lazeer asked.

"I'd say about ten times worse than what you got." TazirVile replied.

It took all of ten minutes for Navub Babusa to turn and then show them the lens that he had made for her son; the lens was neatly nestled in a half-wrap elastic band, that was nearly see-through and that resembled her husband's. The lens, she knew, was a molded piece of squishy, rubbery material that was wet on the inside only—a built-in drip system had been placed in the glasses given to people some one to two hundred thousand years ago; her son's eye would be kept moist even while the glass was being worn thanks to that built-in system. Along with knowing this she also knew that the glass was light-weight—it barely had any weight to it that caused the wearer to not recognize the fact that they were wearing it.

Navub Babusa guided her son in putting the glass on; he placed the glass over her son's eye while her son affixed the band around the back of his head. It took him a few times to finally figure out that the half-wrap elastic band had a suction to it that'd keep it from slipping or sliding during the lens's use and it also took him a while to get use to the lens that was suctioned around his sun-sensitive eye. She had only to look at her son's face to know that he was glad to know that the band wasn't obscuring his horizontal mohawk—like Hazaar, Lazeer thought his hair was cool and just about had a hissy fit when anything happened to it.

"Now, like with a normal pair of glasses, it'll take you a little while to get use to the lens." Navub Babusa said after Lazeer had gotten his goggled glass on. "It's perfectly normal if you find that the ground is falling away from you while the glass is in use. If you find yourself as being dizzy, or gaining a slight headache during the first few days of the glass's use, that's also normal. The dizzy feeling, the slight headache, and the feeling of the ground looking to be falling away from you will go away after a few days of the lens's use."

"Thank you," Lazeer said. He felt a little dizzy now but he was dealing with it. "Now I don't have to wait for the sun to set, or to become hidden behind the clouds, to go out. I can go out with my brothers now."

"Your father asked for me to make you four contact goggles as well," Navub Babusa said. The four containers, that contained a single contact lens in them, were given to Lazeer; with that out of his possession, he turned towards the counter. Lazeer gave his mother a look; he remembered telling his father that he preferred a goggled glass over a contact lens while on the ship. Either his father had forgotten what he had said or he had decided to go on and get him a set of contact goggled lenses. "I've also got two replacement specks for you, as well along as three cases and some eye-drops and some medicated drops."

"W-what's the difference between the normal eye-drops and the medicated ones?" Lazeer asked.

"You've got a little bit of exposure damage to the afflicted eye, the medicated drops will speed up the healing." Navub Babusa replied.

Lazeer knew why there was some damage to his sensitive eye—while on Earth, he had been exposed to the sun when he had been fighting his father. His father had also had his sun-sensitive eyes be effected by the sun—either they hadn't been damaged or they had and had already been treated for it. His mother, when they had been en-route to Moas, had asked his grandfather, Cheshire Ubalki, what his sensitivity was; the man's own bottle of issued eye-drops had been used to give him some relief from what he had been feeling at the time.

Mr. Babusa, after giving him the contact goggled lenses, and then the normal eye-drops and the medicated ones, gave him the eye-glass cases—the two, glazed Caiman crocodile cases were cool while the one that was shaped like a peanut, and that looked like a peanut, was hilarious. Mr. Babusa gave his mother a small bag that contained six containers of normal eye-drops and three containers of medicated drops—after she checked the labels, to see if they went with his sensitivity, she nodded her head. Mr. Babusa said that the medicated drops should be applied twice a day; after giving this instruction, he gave a pamphlet that told one how to properly store and care for their contact goggled lenses.

After everything was handed over, his father reached into his striped, dark gray tuxedo jacket; he took out a brown leather checkbook then he filled out a check for $12,300. This was given to the Optometrist, who thanked him, then them for coming over; they were escorted from the room after this was done. He donned the invisibility cloak after they reached the building's lobby then he followed his parents out into the throng of newspaper and news reporters; in all, it took four minutes to reach the Tiffany Classic Coupe—the reporters, in the time that they had been in the building, had grown in size. Even after reaching the car, and then getting into it, he kept the cloak on him.

"Thanks, dad." Lazeer, who had just gotten through taking the invisibility cloak off, said.

"You're quite welcome son." TazirVile said.

"You hand that up now," Angel said. She held her hand back for the cloak. "The last thing that we need is for you to always have that on your person."

"Mom, you know I won't do anything with it." Lazeer lied, he imagined that he could use the garment to do a lot of things with. Driving his brothers insane with it was only scratching the surface; he imagined himself as harassing the ones who worked for his father, his sister, and anyone who was outside of the mansion with it.

"Uh-huh. Lazie, I know you way too well." Angel said. Lazeer sighed, then handed the invisibility cloak up. His mother put the invisible garment on her lap. "Besides driving your brothers crazy with your invisible antics, you'd also drive me, your father, your sister, and the Goblins insane as well."

"We don't need any newspaper articles being written on how you stalked the ladies bathroom while being hidden under the Cloak of Invisibility." TazirVile said.

"That sounds like fun!" Lazeer smiled.

"Don't give him ideas!" Angel shook her head.

"Either of you wish to have a meal at a restaurant, or do you want to go home for breakfast?" TazirVile asked.

Yes, but only if everyone was involved in the outing, they said; he smiled all while teleporting them from where they were to Moas then, after appearing in the car's appropriate slot in his garage, and then removing the key from the ignition, he nodded his head. It looked like daddy had done a better than splendid job in gaining one of his just-returned sons' trust, he couldn't be prouder of himself.

Angel was fast in giving him the invisibility cloak and in leaving the car; Lazeer followed behind her while he was third in line for leaving the car. They went into the house, which they had been away from for about forty-five minutes, then they piddled around until seven-thirty. Once that time came around, he aroused his other sons, and his daughter, from their sleeps; he told them to get ready to go out then he left their chambers—Hazaar's nervousness of him was still present, so he wasn't but so surprised over his anxiety over seeing him in his chamber, while Bile and Lhaklar looked to of gotten over their nervousness of him. His children did their routines in their chambers' adjoined bathrooms, then got dressed, then filed down to the house's first level; Lazeer, in the time that they had been home, had removed his glass. It'd take him a few hours to a day or so to get use to wearing it and, in a few ways, he felt jealous over his son not having it "built" into him about continuously wearing his glass inside—over the years, he had gotten so use to his specks that he put them on automatically after he got up, so he was always wearing them.

Lazeer was wearing his goggled glass when they reached the house's first level; when his youngest son's brothers saw him, and the glass that he was wearing, they stopped then uttered a small gasp. He suppressed a laugh over their doing so.

"Holy shit, Laz went and got a third eye!" Hazaar exclaimed.

"Yeah, and its got xray and laser beam built into it to boot." Lazeer said.

"Let's make sure that all the ladies know about it having xray vision," Bile said.

"Does the lens have night vision built into it as well?" Lhaklar asked.

"Night vision, heat vision, xray vision, laser beam and—"

"You crazy kid!" Angel said. "Tazir, I blame you for passing the crazy gene to our youngest kid."

"Don't you look at me, sweetheart." TazirVile said. "I am just as innocent as a newborn bat."

"Sure you are." Angel said.

"Think the old man just said that it was our own mother who passed the crazy gene to Lazeer." Bile said.

"Hey, you did something with your hair."

What Lazeer had said was true—Hazaar, while knowing that his room's bathroom was all set-up to accommodate him and his hair, hadn't put his hair-care station, as his brothers seemed to like calling it, to use. Hazaar's deep purple rattail had four braided strands in it; a yellow feather was dangling loosely from a strand of hair while another strand of hair had been half-braided and then capped off with a bright yellow bead. He looked good with his hair being all made up; his brothers, and his mother, looked to be glad over seeing that he was returning to his usual self.

With his family looking to be awake and alert, he led them out the door then towards the vehicle that one of his staff had retrieved and then conveniently parked for them. While waiting for his children to dress themselves, and do their morning routines, he had checked the messages on his phone; the keys to his Excal X2 Limo had been retrieved at the same time. Lhaklar, he noticed, had put the brakes on after seeing the vehicle that was parked before the house—while the boy hadn't been with him when the vehicle was purchased he did seem to remember it well. He could see the signs of recognition on his face.

The vehicle was a light gold color; its front doors were very normal while the back ones swept up, into the vehicle's body, when a passenger, or passengers, was noted as coming towards it. The inside was spacious, and also held well to the vehicle's intended purpose and making. Eshal was the first to reach the car; she got in first while he and his wife got in second and then third. Lhaklar got in next then Bile "squeezed" in. Hazaar and Lazeer were the final two to get into the car. Once everyone was in the car, and once the doors were all shut, he inserted the key, then twisted it, then started driving. The throng of still-represent reporters, while getting out of the way, remained by the front gate and fence of his property; he imagined a lot of disappointed faces being expressed and plain images of his vehicle as it was either being driven towards or away from them being taken.

"A limousine and a six foot, three inch being do not go well together." Bile said after standing to get more comfortable in his chosen seat; his head had bumped the ceiling, and one of his elongated ears had hit the window opposite him, when he did so.

"You'll get use to it after experiencing a few rides in a vehicle like this." TazirVile said. He gave his wife a wandering gaze before looking back at the road. "First time that Hazaar and Lazeer have been in a limo?"

"Yes, it is—first time in a long time that Bile and Lhaklar have been in one as well." Angel replied. "Goes double for me, too."

"You five will get use to it," TazirVile said while taking his wife's hand.

The inside of the limousine was colored like that of the exterior—light gold upholstery and carpet; the seats were a very faint gold color, but they went well with the vehicle's primary colors. The window that was behind the front seats allowed him and his siblings to see their parents; the back portion of the limousine was what got him—the ceiling was concave in design, which looked odd in the vehicle, and there were a few things in this part of the vehicle that had his mind blown.

A 200-watt stereo system, DVD player, and mini-bar were before him; the window that was suppose to be the vehicle's back window was taken up by a flat-screen tv that looked to have surround sound to it. The long row of seats were placed across from the vehicle's one back passenger door; just about every inch of space had been put to use in the vehicle's back, which was both a good and a bad thing. Good for his father, who had wanted a vehicle that'd live up to and warrant the price placed to it, and bad for them, who didn't know how to act or move around in such a vehicle. The mini-bar had a series of glasses in it; a bottle of Champagne, Gin, and regular issue Moas Beer could be seen beside the space where the glasses were. He, for just a second, considered taking one of the bottles out from its space and then pouring himself a serving of it—if not for his sister, and his parents, being in the car with him he would of done it. He could imagine his sister ratting him out on taking one of the bottles out from its containment place and his father saying afterwards _Lhaklar, uh-uh now. Don't even thing about it, you're much too young to be drinking_. If not for his sister and father's presence, he would of also had a smoke—he wanted to smoke one of his Black Devils cigarettes pretty badly but, due to their presence, he wasn't able to do so.

"Where are we going?" Hazaar asked.

"To a place where we'll be eating breakfast at." TazirVile replied.

"Where's that?" Hazaar asked.

"Guess your daddy has a mind to keep where we're headed to a secret." Angel said when her husband didn't answer their son's question.

If not for his father using teleportation to get them to the city that he was planning on taking them to it would of taken hours for their trip to end—his father's place was situated "in the country" and was a good distance from any sort of civilized areas so, on any given day, when his father got the wild hair up his ass to just plain drive instead of drive a short distance and then teleport to his destination, it'd take anywhere between two to six hours for any sort of trip to be concluded.

Their mother called the place that they appeared on the outskirts of J'Sepp City; it was large and it looked to boast a lot of business buildings and recreational areas in it. He saw eateries of both large, medium, and small sizes; he saw theaters, and at least two parks, and a zoo, before his eye landed on the structures that the business-type dealings took place in. These buildings, which were a nice, shiny silver and dull brown color, stretched almost beyond the planet's clouds and were either wide or thin in appearance. He was giving one of the business-type buildings a good looking over when his father pulled into a building that acted as a sort of parking space for vehicles—$20 was paid to the guard that was seated before the building, in a little outpost of sorts, then they drove on; the old man had paid the guard $10 of what was usually paid for one to park their vehicle in the building as a sort of security thing, which he thought showed the little paranoid side that his father had to him.

His father parked in parking space twelve, then removed the key from the ignition, then exited the vehicle; they followed suit. They gave the building's interior, and the many vehicles that were parked in it, a small look before following their parents, who had already started towards the building's front. They were led from the building, then down a long concrete strip, before stopping before a building that had a sign on it that said Laetiquoar Buffet—the glass door was opened, they went in, then they arranged themselves in a "neat" line behind the man who, they were quite sure, would be paying for their tenure in the restaurant.

It was no surprise to them that a team of reporters careened to a stop right outside the building after they reached the restaurant's podium; he, his brothers, and their mother looked at the reporters nervously before turning their attention to the man who was manning the podium.

"How many?" the man, who had slimy, lizard-like skin, yellow eyes and teeth, and who was wearing a black tuxedo, asked their father.

"Seven," TazirVile replied.

"That's seven hundred and twenty dollars, sir." the lizard-like man said. "Smoking or non smoking?"

"Non-smoking, thank you." TazirVile paid the man then led his family past the podium; he led them in the direction that the man directed them to go.

He, a few days ago, had done a small brushing-up on the Moasian language; according to what he had read, the restaurants name was All Around Breakfast Buffet—Laeti was All Around while quoar was Breakfast. Taking from that, he figured that the restaurant was one of them types that served breakfast food all day—he used his brain no more after figuring this; with his not having anything since last night's supper, and with the better than appetizing aromas floating around in the building, he was fuckin' hungry!

He, his mother, and his siblings followed his father into the main part of the restaurant then they imitated what he did; the man grabbed a tray then started the process of going from one buffet to the next. When he was done in making his rounds, he had a tray that was full of pancakes, fried chicken, hash-brown patties, egg omelets, and sausage rolls. The man found a table, then sat down, then dug in while they went by their way in taking a tray up and then making themselves a "breakfast fit for a king". In all, it took five minutes for them to fill their trays and then join their father at the table that he had taken to sit at; once at the table, they started eating.

"Ma is the only one I know who'll eat shrimp for breakfast." Bile said after they had started the process of eating what was on their trays.

"That so young man. Suppose I'll come back with saying that you're the only one that I know of who'll eat noodles that's been saturated in syrup for breakfast." Angel replied.

"Gross!" Eshal made a face.

"My sentiments exactly," Angel said. She looked at her husband then said, "They say that boys have more weird tastes than girls when their growth spurts kick in—boy did Bile and Lhaklar have some weird interests in food when they reached that period in their lives!"

"I can imagine," TazirVile said. "They try eggshells or eating half cooked eggs during that period?"

"Cooked, half-cooked, near-burnt, burnt, with the eggshell still being intact around the egg, and raw." Angel replied. "Came close to screaming after seeing Lhaklar eating an egg that he just took out from the egg carton. After eating that, I wouldn't speak to him for a while—I was that shocked."

"My mother can tell you a few things of what I ate when I was experiencing my growth periods. A fully shelled egg was one of my dietary eats." TazirVile replied.

"She ever walk up on you eating a sort of sauce that's contents were nothing more than ketchsup, mustard, Texas Pete hot sauce, and mayonnaise?"

That was a no; he was fast in putting an end to that conversation after hearing that all of his sons had eaten that type of sauce sometime in their teenage growth periods—while he had eaten some strange things in his teenage years he had never eaten anything like that. It was a known fact that teenagers in their early and then starting years of their mid-teenage lives ate a lot and, naturally, had weird tastes for things that adults wouldn't dare go near. Eshal had eaten a lot of vegetable and fruit combinations during her early teenage years; while she was still one for vegetables and fruits she didn't combine them anymore. He'd never forget the shakes, or the salads, that she had eaten and that went double with the requests for vegetable-fruit ice cream—yuck said he during that period of her life and yuck said he now.

He, as a young teenager, had grossed both his mother and sister out on several occasions. The two would have a field day in telling Angel and the boys about his "fetish" in preferring to drink shakes that were made of meat lovers pizza, ice cream, mushrooms, and noodles and they would also have a field day in telling his family about his interest in beef tongue, cabbage, brussels sprout, and macaroni lasagna.

Knowing what he had eaten as a young teenager, and knowing what his daughter had eaten during her early teen years, he could imagine all the "nice" things his sons had eaten.

Seeing as the conversation would come up on when and who the first invitations would go out to, he started telling his wife what he had planned for the next week and a half.

"I'm to start sending the first lot of invites out in the next week and a half." he said.

"How many are expected to come over?" Angel asked.

"Nine—naturally, since they stuck it out with me on looking for you and the boys from start to finish, my mother, stepfather, and their kids, and my sister, Qeeta, are coming over first." TazirVile replied.

"Qeeta have any kids?" Angel asked.

"No, she's still single. My mother and stepper have two new ones though." TazirVile replied. "Defe and Qhuakiz—they're rather young."

He told of when he was sending his brother's, Kuruk's, and his family's invitations out then he told of when he was planning on sending his father's and his family's invitations out then he told of when he was sending his grandfather's invitation out. His half-sisters, and their multitude of families, would be getting their invites next followed by Trobrencus and his family; Gloar and his wife, Vixbie, and their two kids would be invited over last. He reassured his wife that he was planning on taking things slow—the first batch of invitees would get the chance to get to know his sons, and his sons would get use to having them around, before the next batch of invitees came over and so on. He was planning on this being a lengthy, month to two month process and he was also expecting for somewhere over sixty people coming over.

"You have all of the invitations locked up, right?" Angel asked after all of who was expected to come over had been told to her. "When did you send the invitations for the Ubalki family again?"

"Yesterday," TazirVile answered truthfully. "At the time of my joining you in bed last night, there was a small stack of invitations on my desk—all were moved to one of my desk's drawers just before I left my office."

"Do you still leave outgoing mail on your desk every evening?" Angel asked. "Does Losal or one of the other Goblins still take the mail out each morning?"

"Yes, why?"

"Because I saw Losal taking a large bundle of white envelopes out to the mailbox yesterday morning." Angel replied. "I'd say fifteen or—"

"There was a large stack on one of my file cabinets last night, you probably saw him taking them out to the box." TazirVile said.

They finished breakfast then they filed out of the restaurant; the reporters, as expected, gave them a bit of trouble upon their exit of Laetiquoar Buffet. He had to lunge at two reporters, then he had to grab and then escort two of his sons, who had been grabbed from behind by a too-brash man who wanted his questions answered, then he got into a minor brawl with two men who refused to remove their hands from his wife and daughter. It was utter chaos for ten long minutes before they finally made it to the building that the Excal X2 had been parked in; the guard stationed at the building's front aided them in keeping the reporters at bay so they could go to the car, then get into it, then start on their way home.

The same usage of his teleportation ability occurred after they exited the building; they appeared on the street that the mansion was on then they drove on in silence and near-peace—his children unwound from what they had just endured while he wondered what all had been sent out in the outgoing mail yesterday morning.

His mother, Cheshire, their sons and daughters, and Qeeta would be showing up within a matter of days; the mail was sometimes slow in getting out to people so he estimated that it'd be three to four days before they got their invitations. He was sure that the other invites had been stored in one of his desk drawers—but, to be a little on the safe side, once he parked the car before the house, then after he and his family entered the house, he went up to his office to check on the non-sent invites.

His wife, unbeknown to Lhaklar, had already made the trek to Earth for his "Munster Koach" model; Lhaklar would find his model waiting for him sometime after he decided to venture up to his room. Since he didn't want his other children to feel left out, he had seen to it about getting them something too. Eshal had one of them paint-by-numbers kits in her chamber; Bile had a model of a beast devouring a near-scantily clad woman in his chamber; Hazaar had a model of a "blender" spacecraft in his chamber; and Lazeer had a model of a skeletal airplane in his chamber. They'd be busy for a while, so he wasn't concerned over them; his main concern, at the moment, was centered on what his wife had said. While true, he had made out a few things for the outgoing mail two evenings ago, the stack had still been present on one of his file cabinets that morning; what was it that his wife had seen Losal take out?

"The routine is they see something sitting out that looks mail-able and they mail it out with no questions asked. It's always been that way for my staff and, most of the time, it is Mr. Khrelan who mails the morning mail out." he thought while going down the second level's hallway.

The second he walked into his office, then looked over at his desk, then opened the drawer that he thought he remembered putting the surplus invitations in, his heart sank. They were gone; he recalled looking through the invites, and then sliding them back into their given envelopes, and he thought he recalled putting them away for safe-keeping, but... well, the empty drawer, that the invites should be in but that they weren't in, told him that his recollection was very wrong. He checked all throughout his office for the missing invites before coming to the aggravating conclusion that he had left them out on his desk two nights ago and that they had been sent out in the mail yesterday.

Seeing as he couldn't just call the ones who had been sent too-early invites to come over and then tell them to not come over, he stood up, straightened his tie, then went to find his wife. It was unfortunate on his part that he had unfortunate news to tell her—that, instead of just nine people coming over, an estimated twenty was expected to arrive in the coming few days to a week.


	15. Chapter 15

After putting his Cadshire Truck, a vehicle that he had purchased over two thousand years ago, that still had a good pur to it, and that still ran as smooth as it had after its purchase, in his garage, then leaving his garage, he heard the characteristic bells that the local mail buggy had on it. With it heading on noon on this fine, December 14 day, it was time for the mail to be delivered and for him to retrieve and then look at it.

For some reason, he turned then dawdled before closing the garage's door; his burgundy truck had a short front and back end on it, and the two exhausts, that were present under the vehicle's undercarriage, were short—like with the way it drove, it glistened and looked like it had just come from the assembly line. The vehicles that were to the left, right, and in front of his truck were also good cars but they weren't really revered in the same light that his Cadshire was. The van-like vehicle to the left of his truck was a new one; it had been purchased fifty years ago—it was mainly used when his entire family went out; due to the vehicle having ten seats in it, all of his family could get in and then enjoy the ride. While he wasn't very fond of the van—it was bulky and quite ugly to the eye—he had seen purpose in it, which was why he had purchased and then brought it home. His wife had a license to drive, yes, but what was a family outing when one spouse drove part of the family in one vehicle while the other had the other half of the family in another? The van had a burgundy front-end while the rest had been painted to look like wood; the top could hold bulky suitcases, or picnic boxes and bikes—most of the time, it was the two latter items that were placed on the top of the vehicle. The driver's and front passenger windows were very normal while the ones behind them were a little smaller and darkly tinted.

The vehicle to the right side of his Cadshire was also new—unlike the van, which was family-owned, this vehicle was owned by one of the members of his family... which he was damn glad for. Amadh, his secondborn son, had gotten a liking for the Shebie vehicle sometime after acquiring his driver's license; he had asked time and again on when he'd be "allowed" to gain his help in getting one of the vehicles and he, for all of fifteen hundred years, had put up excuse after excuse in either saying that there were no funds available on him for such a car or that he was too busy to help him. After fifteen hundred years passed, he had "helped" his son in getting the vehicle that was in the garage—Amadh's car was dark blue in color; it had a white stripe on its sides, and a double white stripe on its hood and trunk, and it had big tires, a single exhaust, a long front-end, and a short back-end on it. Amadh, despite being a rather goofy and warm-hearted fellow, took very good care of his car—which he was glad for; he wouldn't of purchased the car for him if not for his noticing how well his son was in regards to the other cars that were owned by the family.

The vehicle that was beside the Shebie was Efagti's—he was glad that his oldest son had taken after him in vehicles otherwise, he might well of gone crazy. Efagti's vehicle was a dark green color; the front resembled his Cadshire's in appearance while its back-end was longer than his Cadshire's. Most of the time, when he and his son went to market for feed for the animals, they piled the bags of oats and other feed in his Cadshire before going on to put the single-purchased hay bales in Efagti's car's trunk. He had only one beef with the car and that was its tires—they were big; his son liked to drive on them muddy roads so, after purchasing the vehicle, he had made a point in purchasing some mud-tires for it. To him, the tires made the truck look silly—the truck's body was held up pretty high because of them, and the truck didn't seem to match the tires that had been put on it. Whenever one of the animals—a sheep, a goat, or one of the Almas—needed a faster than usual trip to the vet, it was his son's truck that was used to get them to the building that they needed to go to.

"Like with Amadh, who worked his ass off to pay me back for what I paid on his car, Efagti stayed "on-contract" with me on paying me back for my "services" in getting him his vehicle." he thought before turning his gaze towards the next vehicle in the garage.

Course, his sons hadn't been "required" to pay him back for his helping them in getting their vehicles; it had still been good, though, to see that they were a responsible lot and that they weren't using him for his wallet.

The Cadshire, the Shebie, the Furd, and the van were considered to be either "men's cars" or cars that had purpose; the vehicles that were parked before them were what he and his two grown sons called the "women's" cars.

His lovely wife's dark purple Himiko, a sleek vehicle that had two seats in the front while only having one in the back, was the first vehicle that he looked at. He had purchased this car for his wife about a thousand years ago; after being crushed by her embrace, and then "drowned" by her kiss, he had said that she was, on no uncertain circumstances, to ever consider or worry about paying him back for it—Ashaklar was his wife, he was suppose to buy her things, and spoil her, and take care of her. She treated her Himiko very well; it was washed, and then waxed, twice a week and it was also taken in for maintenance once every three to four months. He made sure to purchase the car new tires each year and he also made sure to buy her two spares—no need for her to get a flat and then run the risk of being picked up by one who had wrong intentions in mind after pulling over to see if she "needed" his assistance.

The car that was beside his wife's belonged to his stepdaughter; after her old one reached the end of its life cycle, he had done the honors of getting her another to replace it. Qeeta's father, DuruVile Surfeit, was a real mess of a man who treated everyone like dirt and who didn't seem to care a lick for any of his offspring—while he had already known too much about the man, and had already harbored feelings of dislike towards him, he had gained a new reason to loathe him after his stepdaughter's old car went out on her. Qeeta had placed a call to the man, then had told him that her car was down and out, and that she needed his assistance in getting it either repaired or in getting a "halfway" decent replacement for it... had he come back as saying that he'd help her in getting it repaired enough for another 50,000 miles, or that he'd help her in getting a replacement for it? No; he had come back as saying _I've got bigger things to worry about than getting your car replaced or repaired._

The man could of come over to look at the car; he could of tried to do a half-ass repair on it or he could of thrown a decent amount of cash down for it to be repaired by a real mechanic or replaced. Instead of doing either, he had gotten on his daughter for "wanting his assistance in something". The man was pretty wealthy, and he could well of gotten his daughter's car either repaired or replaced; instead, he had yelled at her and then told her to not call or bother him about it.

If Qeeta had been one of the daughters that her father seemed to have a better relationship with she would of probably gotten her car repaired or replaced without having to hear much verbal abuse being thrown at her; since she was the daughter of Ashaklar Zoopray, and since she lived with innocent ol' Cheshire Ubalki, and since she regarded innocent ol' Cheshire Ubalki as her stepfather, she was to take care of herself—he had known this too well, which was why he had gone and purchased her the LuxDux2. Qeeta's car was a nice and shiny, black and silver color; the doors swung up instead of out and it was semi-remote controllable. If Qeeta was loaded down with bags, she could press the button that was on her key-ring, which would unlock the doors and trunk and which would also free up the trunk's hood.

His stepdaughter had been very appreciative towards him for his purchase; along with offering to drive him around in the car she had also given him more than enough hugs to last a lifetime. The man who was her father, after learning that he had purchased her a car to replace the old one with, had called him up and then gotten on him for turning his "nicely bred and taught girl into a spoiled rotten brat". Was that the intended reason to his purchase? Qeeta was a good girl; she didn't demand cash from anyone, she didn't buy a whole store out when she went out shopping, and she didn't go out to shop all the time. She was a big help on the farm, and she was a big help in the house, and she was nice and decent; to him, his stepdaughter was far from spoiled rotten.

"Cheshire," he heard his wife call out for him. After hearing her voice, and noting that she wasn't in the house, he closed the garage door then turned around. After turning around, he saw that she was descending the porch steps and that she had a pail in her hands. He was fast in thinking that she had chicken or duck feed in the pail after seeing her as having it on her person. "Can you get the mail for me please? I'm a trifle bit busy at the moment."

"Of course, Ashie." Cheshire replied loud enough for his wife to hear.

He went down the beaten path, that was before the garage, and that, after elbowing to the left, was between the white picket fence, that surrounded the house that he and his lived in, and the long white fence that went to the horse pasture, after being asked to retrieve the mail; after going a few paces, he turned onto the property's long driveway. Just a week ago, after a big storm blew in, that did more than blow out a window in the house, and fling dirt and dust around, the gravel had been replaced in the driveway—the smell to the newly placed gravel was as intoxicating as could be for him, which he found himself as liking.

During the property's design and then construction, he had decided against putting the pastures and paddocks behind the house; he had been born on a plantation, and he had been bred by plantation owners, so it had been quite easy for him scrap the original plan of putting the pastures and paddocks behind the house. The decision to keep the back for produce while leaving the front and sides for the animals had been a grand one—which he was still seeing more than enough benefits from.

The white picket fence had been put around the house almost immediately after the house's construction was complete; it had a gate on its front and back and it housed a small chicken coop and chicken area in it—his wife was one for birds and she had two types of birds on the property. The pastures and paddocks, that were to the left, right, and before the house, were separate of one another—each species of animal was content with its own kind and with the piece of land that it had been given to roam. The paddock that the flock of brown, white, and purple sheep were in was closest to the house while, beside it, was the Alma paddock—the seemingly lazy-acting animals, that grew thick wool coats one to two times a year, and that needed their teeth floated every six months, and that spat and kicked something fierce, were just as content as their sheep cousins. The paddock that was below and between them belonged to the goats—the funny-looking breed of knee-high, black and white goats roamed and were quite happy in this pen. All three of the paddocks had barns, hay sheds, and good grass in them.

The sheep and goats had really been it for the property's paddocks; the Almas had come later—after his adoptive grandson's birth later, meaning—and the same went with the Zeeduun ducks that inhabited the semi-fenced area that was beside the driveway. His wife had grown a fancy for the breed of bird, which was an all black color, but that was as bare of feathers as could be, and he, being the man that he was, hadn't been able to keep himself from buying her a couple of them; Ashaklar had started off as having five ducks... that number had grown and decreased in size over the years for various reasons. While the ducks approached his wife willingly, and seemed to like her, they ran whenever they saw him coming—most of the time, when he went towards them, it was to do a quick count of the flock and then collect, crate, and then sell the surplus animals that weren't needed on the property. He did try his best to keep the flock's numbers down to fifteen—to do this, he caught and then sold the males more than he did the females. Like with the sheep, goats, and Almas, the Zeeduun ducks had their very own barn in their semi-closed off area—the pond that was in their area was big enough to accommodate them; until seeing his daughter, Blaiga, tossing and then getting a playful reaction from the birds with her rubber ball toys the pond had been bare and plain in appearance. Due to it having four rubber ball toys in it, it looked a little odd.

"And, in the small pen that's beside the goat paddock, is a small group of Micro Pigs." he thought while going down the driveway.

Blaiga had gained an interest in the Micro Farm Pig after Shillah Oislon, the closest neighbor to them, showed her the two pigs that she had gotten. Blaiga had hounded him for days on getting one, and he had been firm in telling her no—he wasn't a pig man; the animals ate like crazy, they stunk, they made a mess of the ground in their given enclosure, and they were very good in escaping from the area designated for them. He had spoken to Davav, Shillah's husband, about the pigs after day four of being hounded about the animals and he had learned that the man's wife's animals had already escaped their pen numerous times; Davav had confided in him his annoyance over having to chase down the pigs and over having to continuously fill in the holes that he found that were near the fence of the animals' pen—this, along with his feelings towards the animals, was the reason to why he hadn't gone right out to get his daughter her much desired piglets.

To have his daughter's pigs escape their pen, then roam the countryside, and then having to chase after, corral, and then retrieve and bring them back wasn't needed; the same went with the neighborhood being taken over by wild pigs that had formerly been domestic. He wasn't about to let a pig be bought and then kept in the house either. He wasn't a stupid man by any means—he knew that some people sold pigs that they labeled as potbelly or micro pigs when they really weren't and he also knew that some pigs were aggressive and could inflict injury to both the members of their group and to their caretakers. He wasn't about to have a two hundred plus pound pig roaming the house, tearing things up and driving him and his family crazy and he for damn sure wasn't about to have an aggressive pig tearing up his daughter either.

His daughter had been crushed after learning that he was steadfast in not getting her her pigs but she had gotten over it; a father had to know when to say no to his children and, while he did like to spoil his children, he did teach them right from wrong. About eight months after the decision on his daughter not getting any pigs was made, an advertisement on pig-proof fencing was seen on the tv—it was said to keep in domestic pigs and also keep out the wild ones. He had checked into it, and had made a few crude observations on the already implemented ones in the nearby farms; everyone that he had spoken to about the fencing had said that it was spot-on to what the advertisement had said it was and he had also seen that it did wonders in keeping the pigs inside their pens and in keeping their predators and wild brothers and sisters from getting in to mess with them—with this knowledge under his cap, he had purchased more than enough of the fence and then rigged it up. The barn had just been built when the pigs were bought—instead of getting just one or two, and instead of buying just one gender, he had purchased four and he hadn't restricted himself to getting plain boys or girls. Three girls and a boy had been purchased on that day—all four had been fixed, so no babies had come from them after they matured enough to get an interest in propagating.

His daughter had been and was still thrilled with the animals; she took care of them very well, and it looked like her pets were thriving under her care and were very happy with their way of life.

"And all of that is to the left of the house; the pasture before the house, and the ones that're to the right of the house, are inhabited by the horses, ponies, and cows."

To the left of the driveway was the pony pasture; it was big enough to accommodate a herd of fifteen animals but, at the moment, there were just seven ponies that called it home. The stallion to this herd, who was currently on the pasture's "king hill", munching away on grass, was a black and white pinto while his mares were sorrel, bay, and palomino; the bay and white pinto yearling belonged to the bay mare while the palomino pinto yearling belonged to the palomino mare, the one foal in the pasture belonged to the sorrel mare, who hadn't had a foal last year.

The pasture to the driveway's right belonged to the regular horses; there were nine animals in this pasture and all were finely built, sleek, and beautiful to the eye. The stud to the herd was a nice and shiny black; his face was split down the middle by a stripe. The stallion governed over a herd of three mares, two yearlings, and a two-month old foal; the mares were either palomino, sorrel and white, or bay in color. One of the yearlings had taken after his sire by being solid black while the other was a bay pinto; the pasture's lone foal was a dark palomino color. The sorrel pinto mare and the bay mare were both heavy in the belly—they were nearing the end of that year's pregnancy. If things played out to what he had planned, he was to sell the pasture's two yearlings to one of the neighbors in a few months—he had yet to decide on what to do with that year's foals.

The largest of the property's pastures was to the extreme right of the property; about twenty head of cattle resided in the enclosure—due to their being in the pasture's stationed barn, and either being halfway or nearly finished in being milked, none were out and about.

The stallion in the horse pasture followed him as he went down the driveway; he was just reaching the mailbox, that was rustic in appearance, and that looked like one of them old dress trunks, when the mail buggy pulled up. His stallion was fast in snorting at the gray mule that pulled the buggy; when the mule didn't return his snort, or acknowledge him with another vocalization, the stallion turned tail then trotted away.

"Mr. Ubalki, nice to see you." Tafflong Venal, a male Zetakin who had dark blue skin and large, circular-shaped eyes that were a shiny silver color, said while reaching into the buggy's back. "How's the wife and children today?"

"Both doing well. Looking forward to harvest season, and to the new foals that're expected to come soon, and to, of course, being told that they can go over to my stepson's place to see him and his children." Cheshire replied. "Honestly, I'm looking forward to the latter more than the two former items that they're looking forward to."

"Mr. Surfeit is your stepson, right?"

"Yes,"

"He was seen in Baf-az town two days ago." Tafflong said. "His wife, Angel Irene, and one of their sons was said to be with him."

"Yes, we saw the report on their being on the planet when it aired two days ago." Cheshire replied.

"I have several packages and letters for you and your family." Tafflong Venal said. Four packages—two small, one large, and one that was medium-sized—were removed from the buggy's back and then given over; the packages had no more been relinquished before the man grabbed the ten envelopes that had the Ubalki home address on them from his mail bag. He gave the envelopes to Cheshire then he grabbed the reins that went to his buggy. "Have a nice day, Mr. Ubalki. Tell the missus that I said hello."

"I will, thank you." Cheshire said. He saw Tafflong Venal off then he turned towards the house that he and his lived in.

The house that he was walking towards was large—huge, if one wished to use that term in regards to it; to him, it was a plain, simple house that gave him and his shelter and that they loved living in. Around thirty or so people could take up residence in the house; at the moment, only nine were present to take up the available rooms that were in it. While he and his family had a small staff working for them they didn't live with them—the men and women that worked for him and his lived in their own abodes somewhere in the nearest town.

The structure was a light brown color; the windows in the front were plentiful while the porch was large and spacious. Two benches, two rocking chairs, and a swing were all housed on this white-painted porch. Before the porch, in the flowerbeds, were pink and yellow star-shaped rose bushes; a bird feeder on a post, and a set of chimes, were to either side of the porch steps—his wife had been the brains of the steps' design. The steps were built high, and were thin; while initially thinking that they'd not work, and that they'd need to be replaced, he had found himself as liking their unique design almost immediately after they were added to the porch. The main door to the house was made of heavy cherry wood while the door that was before it was nothing more than a plain, normal screen door.

After appearing before the white picket fence, he moved what he had just gotten from Mr. Venal from one arm to the next then reached forward; he pushed the fence's front gate open, then he closed it after entering the fenced-in yard that surrounded the house, then he went towards the porch.

The chicken coop, that was to the far left of the fenced-in yard, housed around eleven birds; the three birds that were on the coop's roof were yellow and feather-fluffy in appearance, the birds that were around the coop, either pecking at the ground, looking for insects or grass seed or that last kernel of corn, were either brown, purple, or red in color—like with the birds that were perched on the coop's roof, these were also feather-fluffy in appearance.

After reaching the first step of the porch, he shifted the mail that he had in his arms again; he went up the steps quickly, then he opened the screen, and then the main door of the house, then went into the house afterwards.

"Qhuakiz, don't run in the house." Cheshire said after seeing that his youngest son was running towards him.

"Daddy gotted da mal!" Qhuakiz said excitedly.

The vocabulary possessed by a toddler, and the way that a toddler spoke... when his older children had been the age that Qhuakiz was, he had had a hard time in not shaking his head and laughing whenever they spoke—this was non-different now.

Qhuakiz was his youngest child and son; at the moment, he was three hundred and ninety-three years old—he acted like any other toddler would. His toys would be thrown or left all over the place, he sometimes refused to eat certain foods given to him, he sometimes refused to go to bed when the appropriate time for him to go to sleep came around, he was rather emotional and too-loud from time to time, and he did tend to get both babied around and disciplined more than his other children were—regardless of these things, he loved him and cherished any amount of time that he was allowed to spend with or around him.

He looked at his son then smiled; Qhuakiz looked like a combination of him and his wife. His son's eyes, which were oval in shape, were bronze in color—the shape had come from his mother while the color had come from him—and he had medium-blue skin—this had come from his wife's side of the family. At the moment, his son was just four feet tall—if he had to make any guesses, Qhuakiz would reach a height of six foot two inches when he reached his teenage years. At the moment, his son was wearing a pair of blue overalls; the red t-shirt, that he was also wearing, was a bit messy. There was nothing on his feet.

Qhuakiz didn't know how to read or write just yet, and he knew the bare basics of house etiquette; most of the time, he played with his toys, or created "havoc" in the house, or ran up to see what one in his family was doing before yawning and then running off to another part of the house. Qhuakiz tried to get him to pick him up, then he tried to grab the mail from his arms after he found that his demand wasn't being done; when he refused the second command that his son issued to him, his son made a face then ran off to "parts unknown". With himself now lacking his son's presence, he went towards the living room.

"Unlike the man who use to be my wife's husband, who flat-out refused to let her partake in decorating or designing any portion of the house that she was to live in, I allowed her to design, and decorate, nearly half of this place." he thought after entering the living room.

The S-shaped couch, that had taken the place of the old one after the old one went out on them, had been purchased almost two hundred years ago; after ordering it from one of the mailed catalogs, then receiving it, she had spent somewhere around two to three hours in "directing" him and two of their male staff in where she wanted it to go. He and them two men had grown a bit frustrated with her continuous calls for the piece of furniture to be moved from one part of the room to the next but they hadn't voiced it—Ashaklar had been very excited after getting that piece of furniture, and hadn't been able to make up her mind on where it was going to go, and both he and them two men had known it. The couch was a mostly dark gray color; the cushions were a little lighter gray color and were right soft and firm. There were two sections to the couch; the first faced the front of the room while the other faced the room's back.

A light oak table, that had a single drawer on it, was near the couch's two base-curve areas; the phone that was on the table's surface was a mostly light gold color. The chrome floral designs that were on the phone were very shiny. A notepad, with a pen and pencil, was in the table's drawer—he was one who often forgot the numbers that came in so his family, and female staff, made an effort in writing down the numbers that frequently called the house.

The couch, table, and phone weren't the only items in the room; the two, mostly brown-colored elegant chairs, that had white cushions on their backs and seats, were to either side of the room. A 50" screen was mounted on the room's front-facing wall; the white stone bench, that was under the screen, had four vases on it—two of the four were normal in shape and design while the other two had a sort of Tulip-like effect to them. Each of these vases had yellow and blue flowers in them.

Vases were one of his wife's favorite things; she claimed that they brought a room out, and made it brighter—despite the fact that he was of the male gender, he did have to agree with this claim of hers.

After taking a seat on the room's stationed couch, he placed the mail on the long, dark walnut table that was before the couch. He started the process of sifting through the mail afterwards.

"Bills are a bit late in getting here this month." he thought after finding that the electric, cable, internet, phone, and water bills were all present in that morning's sent mail. The insurance bills for his and his family's health care plan, for his life insurance, and for the property and vehicles were all missing—he made a note to call the companies that them bills came from to see what was up with the absence of them bills.

One of the sent packages contained a piece of jewelry—he was never one to open a piece of mail that wasn't his so he left the package alone after seeing that Qeeta's name was on it. Curiously, Ashaklar and Blaiga had packages from the same business that Qeeta had ordered something from—like with the package that had Qeeta's name on it, he placed them to the side. For some reason, Qhuakiz had a package as well. Crazy Bek's Toy Factory? He made a note to speak with his wife about this piece of mail—Qhuakiz, while having a right in receiving mail, was much too young to be sending mail out... and his birthday was several months away.

He had gotten several school applications—due to his having an education in being a teacher, and due to his having been a teacher in the far distant past, he was always getting mail from schools that wanted him on their faculty. He had plans to use the paper shredder, that was in his office, after looking at/reading the rest of what had come in the mail—he hadn't been employed as a teacher in thousands of years, and he was no longer interested in being a teacher, so there was no use in his keeping the school faculty applications.

He had spent a hundred years on the payroll of Afaab High School before the urge to own his own land, and then plant and mine that land, came to him; he had taken a ten-year absence from teaching at the school and then, after discovering that ten of his one hundred acres of land had oil on them, he had put in the formal retirement slip. Twelve months after the oil was discovered he had come across a very rare, valuable, and fashionable material that had assured him rich for life—as if finding oil, and being made a millionaire almost overnight, wasn't good enough he had found himself as finding Gold Glass on his purchased lands. His mines were still putting out more than enough Gold Glass a year, and he still planted the land that nothing had been found as being either on or in; he was very happy with where he stood in life.

His branch of the Ubalki family was among Zeta Ren's most prominent families; they, for the most part, were plantation owners—he had been raised to be one of these very simple, and respectful, and responsible people almost from the moment he had been born. Even though he was rich for life, he didn't go around, throwing his cash around or buying this thing or that thing that he saw. He was a modest liver—he didn't buy a car a month; he didn't own ten or more houses; and, while he did go to and spend a little money in the nearby auctions, he wasn't a frequent tender to the auction scene.

To him, he had everything that he'd ever want and need right here—a beautiful wife, six children, two stepchildren, and a good property to live and raise his family on.

The bills were put to the side then the hand-written letters from family and friends were looked at; the first had come from his sister, Clerabia—she was the only one of his family that he heard from. His parents, and his younger brother, had disowned him after learning that he was continuing with his ambition in being a miner, and a farmer, instead of keeping his former job of being a teacher—he had used a little of what his family had in their vault to acquire his one hundred acres; after learning that he had used what was in the family vault on land, and then after learning what that land's purchase was for, they had demanded that he sell what he had purchased, then put the money that he had used to acquire it with back in the vault, then forget about mining. They had been fine with his being a farmer but, when it came to mining... well, they hadn't much liked that. He had put the money back into the family vault right after being made a millionaire then he had wiped his hands of most of them.

His wife's younger brother, Cluebron, had written and so had a few family friends. He was in the process of taking his pocketknife out from its stationed pocket when his eye landed on the envelope that had his stepson's address on it; after taking this envelope up, he saw that there was another in the pile that had the same address on it—this second envelope had the word _Express_ stamped on it and it also had four stamps on it. After taking the second envelope up, he saw that it had a stamp on it that claimed that it had been mailed nearly two days ago.

"Something's up," he thought. "Tazir would never send a normal letter and then follow it up with an express-sent one."

Despite this thought of his, he still leaped for the roof after opening the first of the two envelopes that had his stepson's name and address on them—the invites, that he and his family had been looking forward to getting, were found as being in the envelope. While wanting to yell for his family to get inside, and then to pack enough for a few days to a week, he sustained himself from doing so—if what was in the Express-sent envelope was normal, and nothing dire, he'd do that; if something was up, he'd be calm in telling his family what was going on then act according to what that discovered something was.

After opening the second envelope, then evicting its contents, he started reading. He was both relieved and a little nerved over what the single sheet of paper had on it.

 _Dear Stepper,_

 _You and your family need to expedite your arrival; one of my butlers, a few days ago, accidentally mailed out twenty invitations that shouldn't of gone out yet. Due to the accidental mailing of them invites, I'm expecting more than nine to make an appearance and then reside in my residence—they're all expected to be here in a matter of days, sadly._

 _The action of the other invitations going out in the mail is purely on me; instead of putting them away, I left them out on my desk. My butler, who had just returned from injured leave, didn't know that they weren't suppose to be mailed out_ — _I'm not holding him 100% accountable for this mishap. Angel and the boys, and Eshal, know what's going on and are looking forward to you, your family's, and Qeeta's arrival._

 _Sincerely yours,_

 _Tazir_

He and his stepson, TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit, had a great relationship between themselves—the two of them owed the respect that they harbored for one another for this. His stepson's father, who was also Qeeta's father, had treated him very badly when he had been growing up and, by all appearances, he was still treating him badly. The man, though no longer resulting to physical abuse towards his son, was still very verbally abusive towards him; Tazir had all matter of scarring on his body to account for all that he had endured as a child and teenager. At the time that his stepson's father returned to the Known World, and that Angel Irene became apart of the Surfeit family, Tazir had been pretty low in self esteem and confidence—after gaining Angel as a wife, and then after siring his first child from her, he had gained a lot of confidence and self esteem in himself.

From what he had heard, Tazir was being very wise in how he was handling himself around his sons, who had only just been returned to being under his roof and in his, and his daughter's, life. Tazir was letting them settle in, and get use to the sights, sounds, and smells of his house; he was being slow around and with them; and he was being patient and understanding towards them and their needs. Ashaklar had been the one to put the bug in his ear about the front gate and fence of his stepson's property being flanked by reporters and she had also been the one to tell him about what happened between Bile, Hazaar, and the reporters who had come in from the sea—Bile and Hazaar had been exploring the property's backyard at the time; they hadn't done a single thing to warrant the reporters' brash move on them or the vast disrespect that had been given to them. A few areas of disrespect had been shown by the boys—Hazaar slugging a fist at his father, and catching him in the jaw; Hazaar and Lazeer getting lost while exploring the house, then fighting one another after succumbing to their hysteria over being lost; and Lhaklar challenging his father for starters—but, from what he had been able to piece together of what he had been told, Tazir wasn't sweating any of what had been shown to him in the disrespect department.

Bile, according to his wife, was now acting like he was fully calm and settled in his new living arrangements; Lhaklar was also acting this way while the two younger boys had yet to do so.

"Hope that them accidentally sent invitations don't undo all of what Tazir's gained with Angel and the boys." he said in a very low voice after standing from the S-shaped couch.

He wasn't about to think or speak bad of his stepson, or of the butler who had mailed the twenty invitations out—the mailing of them invites was a mistake, and everyone was entitled to making a handful or two of mistakes in their lifetime. He knew that he and his had been the first ones on his stepson's mind to receive invites to his place and he knew that the express-sent letter had been sent with this in mind—Tazir could well of let him and his show up and then tell them about what was going on, or he could well of just let them get their invites and then come over without telling them a thing of what was going on; instead of doing either of them things, he had sent a letter explaining the situation. It was good to know that he and his family weren't about to show up somewhere without knowing what was going on and it was also good to know that he and his family were important enough to warrant such a swiftly sent letter explaining the present situation.

With the two items of extreme importance open and then read and acknowledged, and with the present situation now known to him, he went towards the front of his home. He left the house, then he grabbed the bucket that was sitting casually to the porch steps' side, then he started banging on it.

His wife, who had just gotten through feeding her ducks, turned to look at the house while their two adult sons, who were coming from the cows' barn, gave one another a crisp look before breaking into a trot. Phaggo, his and his wife's mid-teenage son, who was sitting in the pony pasture, throwing a yellow baseball up, into the air, and then catching it, stood then started towards the house slowly while Blaiga, his and his wife's mid-teenage daughter, who had just gotten through feeding her pigs, ran towards the house. His stepdaughter, who was behind the house, checking the clothes that were on the line, was the last of his family to start towards the house.

"Cheshire, what in the whole wide Universe..." Ashaklar Ubalki, who had been born under the surname of Zoopray, said after reaching the porch. Her husband looked right calm and content; one of his feet was propped on one of the porch railings while the other was firmly placed on the porch. She could detect no reason for him to make such a loud ruckus.

"Defe inside?" Cheshire asked her.

"Yes—probably playing." Ashaklar replied.

"We need to pack, and get ready to leave for Moas, now." Cheshire said for all in his family to hear. "The invite for us to go over to Tazir's place for a while was received today—there's been a complication. A mishap. We need to go and quickly."

Ashaklar, who, unlike her oldest son and daughter, was a pureblood Zetakin, gave her husband a hard, serious look. Instead of speaking more on the subject that he had just disclosed to them, and instead of being all excited about the invite for their going over to spend some time with their just-returned family, he was being vague on what was going on and he was also being as calm as could be. From what she was able to make out, an issue had come up with her oldest son and they were needed to pack up and then relocate from Zeta Ren to Moas lickity split—she found this to be quite odd.

Cheshire Keueitt Ubalki, her second husband, and, she hoped, the only other man that she'd be involved with, had married her sixty-one thousand, six hundred years ago; the love between them was still being felt and expressed daily—she still revered him as being a fine, and very handsome, man.

He was a tall man, standing at six foot, three inches; his skin was both leather tough and a dark blue color. The eyes that looked out from his face were almond-shaped and bronze in color; he had inherited one of the ailments that most in their species had—thanks to the photo sensitivity of his left eye, he wore a goggled monocle, which she personally thought made him look even more handsome.

He had a lot of muscle on his arms, back, and chest; the rest of him was slender. He was wearing a pair of black corduroy pants, that had a dark gray belt around their waist; the long sleeve, button down shirt, that was over his top half, was a light gray color. The vest that was worn over the shirt was a faint gray color; the gold chain, that ran from the vest's left breast pocket, and that ran down to the left pocket of his pants, contained a gold box on one of its ends—her husband was an avid snuff chewer and he just so happened to have some in that box. While he did smoke he wasn't one to do so on a frequent basis—only when a special occasion came around, or when he was stressed out, did he take time out to indulge in a smoke. The boots that were on his feet were very normal in appearance; they were a medium gray color, which, she thought, contrasted well with the rest of what he was wearing.

" 'scuse me while I dig out my suitcase and then fill it." Efagti Izorot Ubalki, her and her husband's oldest son and child, said before ascending the porch and then disappearing into the house.

Efagti, who was forty-seven thousand, four hundred, and fifty-nine years old, looked most like his father. His skin, which was tough over his body, was a dark blue color; the eyes that were in his face, which were large and oval-shaped, and silverish-bronze in color, had come from her—er, expect for the color. That had come from the both of them. The way his body was designed was what set him apart from his father—he didn't only have muscle on his chest, back, and arms but also on his lower body too. Her son had gotten all of this from working the farm—from working the animals; holding the mini horses so his father could give them their shots, or trim their hooves; from leading the bigger horses to their barns; from heaving and then tossing heavy bales of hay from one place to another; from toting pails of oats, or other animal feed; from helping when shearing time came around for the sheep and Almas; from milking the cows and goats; and from helping with the fields when harvesting time came around.

Her oldest son from her second marriage was a very level-headed, and calm-based, man who knew well how to act around others and how to act in public. Her oldest son was wearing a pair of blue jeans; the belt that was around their waist was black and leather. The shirt that was over his top half was blue while the shoes that were on his feet were black and normal in appearance.

She and her family heard nothing more of this child of hers after he entered the house; it seemed that Efagti had no more entered the house before one of his siblings spoke and then started the process of following him.

"My 'case was only half unpacked, so I'll have him beat in packing in nothing flat." Amadh Azuknor Ubalki said while ascending the porch steps.

Amadh, her secondborn son from her second married, who was thirty-five thousand, twelve years old, was usually the comical one in her family—no hint of comedy was present in his voice after he spoke and he made no joke-like gestures after ascending the porch. She thought this as strange for a second or two before shrugging her shoulders then latching onto the idea that he was both tired from milking the cows and excited over finally being able to see and interact with his nephews.

Amadh, like Efagti, looked most like his father; he had dark blue skin, that was pulled tight over his body, and almond-shaped eyes—the shape of his eyes had come from his father while the bright silver coloration that was present to them had come from her. He, like his brother, was tall; while his chest and arms were well-muscled his lower half was slender and graceful in appearance. He was wearing a pair of dark green pants; the t-shirt that was over his top half was a stained green color while the boots that were on his feet were brown.

After Amadh entered the house, then started his routine in going to his room and then fixing up his suitcase, she turned her attention to her and her husband's thirdborn son.

"Go and get your things packed, Phaggo." Ashaklar said after seeing that her thirdborn son was dawdling in going to the house.

"How long are we staying with Tazzy?" Phaggo asked.

"A while—best pack enough for a week." Cheshire replied, then reiterated what he had said. "That's seven of everything." he had no more said this before deciding to retract a bit of his statement. "Er, scratch that. Bring only two pairs of shoes—normal and boot."

Phaggo Kokub Ubalki looked more like her than his father—while the complexion of his skin had come from his father the rest shouted her. His eyes were large, oval in shape, and a shiny silver color; due to how his skin had a graceful stretch to it, and looked a little feminine in appearance, Amadh was one to frequently crack jokes about his being a girl in disguise. The gentle look that was in his eyes said that he was calm, cool, and collected—which was very true; he did have a calm, cool, and collected demeanor. He'd not hurt a flea, much less start a fight. This son of hers was two thousand, seven hundred, and thirty-four years old—very young; he still had a while to go before becoming a full grown adult. He was wearing a white, button down, short sleeve shirt; the pair of black jeans, that were on his lower half, had a dark brown belt around their waist. The shoes that were on his feet were brown and very normal in appearance.

Phaggo said nothing more after getting the word on what he was to do; he went into the house then he went upstairs to begin the process of packing himself a suitcase. His younger sister, Blaiga Sarewelba Ubalki, was fast in following on his heels.

"Just don't clip any heels while going up the stairs please." she wished silently after they went into the house.

"You two next," Cheshire said after seeing that she and Qeeta were the only two to still be outside the house.

"Is it bad?" Ashaklar asked after entering the house. Qeeta was fast in walking around her and in going up to the room that she had been given.

"Nope, nothing bad." Cheshire replied. "Due to one of Tazir's staff accidentally mailing out several invitations a few days ago, we have to break rear in packing and then getting over there before the other invitees arrive."

"That's it?" Ashaklar said. She let her husband go past her before swinging her hand; Cheshire stopped, then turned to look at her after her hand "slapped" the back of his shoulder. "That's for scaring me! You made it sound like my son was in trouble, or got hurt, or that something had happened to one of our grandchildren."

"No, I'd of said for everyone to drop everything and then teleport to his mansion, or to whatever hospital he or one of the kids are in, if that had been what was going on." Cheshire replied.

Instead of packing their suitcases normally, they said a spell that'd get them packed faster; all of what they either needed or wanted to have was put in the two cases, then they were closed up tight before being grabbed and then hoisted from the bed. She and her husband did the packing for Defe and Qhuakiz after their suitcases were squared away—after putting in a few second pause to think things over about what their two, younger children needed and wanted to bring with them, they decided to put some of their toys in a box; there was no need in Defe or Qhuakiz getting bored while being at Tazir's and there was no need in Tazir, or one of his children, being driven up a wall by the two's cranky antics over having nothing to do while visiting them.

When the packing was done, they grabbed what had been packed then went downstairs; Defe and Qhuakiz followed at their sides the entire time they were descending the stairs. After finishing their descent, they started the process of waiting for their other children to join them.

During the wait, Cheshire retrieved and then stowed the mail in his suitcase; he was just zipping his suitcase up when Qeeta, Efagti, Amadh, Phaggo, and Blaiga came down. A note was written for the staff, which told them the basics on their being at Tazir's place and on their continuing as they were until word from one of them was received, then they teleported; they appeared before the door to her oldest son's abode a second later.

Her husband wasted no time in reaching his hand forward to knock on the door or in shaking his shoulders; she found herself so excited over being here that she could barely stand still—when she turned to look at her children, she saw that they were also having a time in standing still. It took another knock before the door was opened.

"Losal, how are you this near afternoon." Ashaklar asked after Losal Khrelan anwered the door. A little over a month ago, her third oldest grandchild had done the honors of injuring this man and then having him sent home for a break to heal from his injuries; she was glad to see that he was back to work and that he looked to be holding himself well.

"Doing well," Losal, a green-skinned Goblin who had green eyes, a few warts on his face, and a thin, but long, nose, replied. The hair that was on his head was brown in color and was scraggly in appearance—even though it was combed to the side, it looked a little unkept. The tuxedo that his five foot tall body was wearing was plum; the shoes that were on his feet matched it perfectly. After opening the door, then acknowledging the ones who were on its other side, he let them into the house. "My employer, and his family, have been expecting you."

"How's my son?" Ashaklar asked.

"Very well—far as I'm able to tell, he's had a very pleasant day today." Losal replied.

"How're the boys?" Ashaklar asked.

He wasn't able to answer that question; due to his employer being in the area, and due to his having heard that there were visitors in the house, he had come down to relinquish him of the chore of taking them to their appointed rooms.

The last two mornings, for him, had been rather hectic; with his mistake in mailing out twenty invitations, that weren't suppose to go out yet, he had taken it upon himself to remain near the front door to let the visitors in. His co-workers had checked into the rooms on the second, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh levels—to see if they were ready and appropriate for the ones that were to inhabit them—and they had also checked into the pantries to see if everything was in order for the guests that were to be received in the coming days. The normal chores in the house had also been done but, for the most part, it had just been their checking to see if everything was ready for the mass amount of people that were to reside in the house for the next few weeks to months.

Master Tazir, regardless of his plan of who was to come over first being scrapped for a different one, had been a little on the happy side after waking this morning and on the two mornings that preceded this morning—Mistress Angel, they figured, had done a few things that had made the present situation not seem so hurried or disappointing. A normal breakfast, lunch, and dinner had been served yesterday and the day before yesterday and normal activities had happened between them meals—Miss. Eshal was still unsettle around her brothers but she seemed to now be fine with being around her mother and she also seemed to be looking forward the the twenty guests' arrival. Young Master Hazaar and Lazeer had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed that morning; they had been cranky for about half of that morning before mellowing down.

Mistress Angel, quite surprisingly, was taking the present situation of his sending out twenty invitations very well; she hadn't gotten on him about his sending them invites in the mail, she hadn't gotten on her husband for his not calling everyone who had been sent an invite and then telling them to not come over just yet, and she looked to be looking forward to seeing everyone who was to be coming over in the next few days. The Young Masters had been told about what was going on and, as far as he was able to tell, they were a little nervous but weren't sweating what was to happen in the imminent future.

"The process of re-integrating them with the whole family starts now—hope that everything goes well, and that everyone behaves themselves, and that no one runs off after the house is full of all who are to come over for a stay." he thought after noticing that his employer was half-descended from the foyer's left-side stairwell.

His employer gestured for him to relinquish his post in leading the guests up the stairs; he did as he was told to do silently. After being relinquished of his "charges", he returned to his former post of working close to where the residence's front door was.

"Mother," TazirVile said after his guests had reached the portion of the stairs that he was on. "Stepper, how's everyone this near afternoon?"

"Doing very well." Cheshire replied. His family nodded their heads in agreement with him.

"Pardon me for being hurried," TazirVile said as he turned then started leading everyone up the stairs. "I'll probably be in a hurry all day today."

"Something going on that we should know of?" Efagti asked. "Or be concerned about?"

"No, nothing to become worried about is going on in the house. I've got several mares, that are showing the signs of their reaching the end of their pregnancies, and I have bat-count to do." TazirVile replied.

"I'm sure that the mares will be fine," Ashaklar said. "How were the boys this morning?"

"Doing as well as they should—Hazaar and Lazeer were a bit mouthy earlier." TazirVile replied. "Combination of things going on with them—the Temperamental phase, their being like me in being grumpy after waking, and, I presume, their not getting in an all-nighter."

"Are they still clinging to their mother?" Ashaklar asked.

"Hazaar and Lazeer are," TazirVile replied. "Bile and Lhaklar aren't."

"That's good to know—maybe the younger boys will take after their older brothers and be more open." Cheshire speculated.

"Hopefully they will," TazirVile said. He had since left the foyer's dual stairwells; he was now leading his mother, and her family, and his sister down the second level's hallway. He said nothing more until after reaching the stairwell that wound up to the house's third level; progress down the second level's hallway was quiet and pleasant and he was able to think all while leading everyone to the second set of stairs that they'd have to ascend that morning. After reaching the stairwell that led up to the third level, he stopped, then turned around, then said, "Level four; rooms two through ten are yours. I'd love to take you up to that level but I do need to check on them mares now."

With his knowledge on horses, and on how they gave birth, he knew that some mares did need more care and assistance than others when it came time for them to give birth. A perfectly sweet-tempered mare can turn mean and nasty after her baby's born; a mare who just gave birth can turn on her newborn for, sometimes, unknown reasons; and a mare, whether a maiden or one that's given birth before, can up and abandon their baby after it's been born. Sometimes, the foals were in breech position and couldn't be passed through, or the foal was dead and the mare wasn't pushing because she knew her baby was dead; a mare needed to be put in a padded stall, and then have her tail wrapped, a few days before the expected due-date arrived and then she was to be watched until that baby was seen as emerging from her.

Most of the time, a week to a few days before his mares' due dates arrived, he'd take to using a cot, that'd be placed in the stall beside their own, to sleep in—he'd wait, he'd help when needed, and he'd also go in to apply the iodine to the naval stub about two to three hours after the baby was standing and had taken in its first meal of colostrum.

His stepson, he knew, did most of the same things that he did when a mare on his property was nearing her due date; while he didn't know how many mares Tazir was expecting to foal he knew that them mares, and their unborn foals, were in good hands.

While he knew of his stepson's interest in bats, he knew nothing on their care or about how one went by looking after them—he put no thoughts in on the "Bat Count" that Tazir had said he had plans in doing that day.

After being released of his stepson's company, he took over in leading his family to the house's third level. Each of his family thought their own, separate thoughts until just after reaching the level that they were headed towards—after reaching the third level, they put the breaks on then stared at what was going on before them.

Standing about mid-way down the hall was Lhaklar and Hazaar; both looked irritated but, by all initial opinions, it looked like Hazaar was the most irritated of the two.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lhaklar said. "No magazine of yours is in my possession."

"Come on! I asked Lazeer and he says that he doesn't have it, and I asked Bile and he says that he doesn't have it, so that means that you—"

"Have you checked your room for it?" Lhaklar asked. "Turned it upside down? Checked under its skirt and all?"

"Yes and it's not in there."

"Have you asked the old man if he took it?" Lhaklar asked. Ashaklar was fast in gasping—here it was, the first time in weeks since she had seen these two grandchildren of hers, and she was hearing one of them use a rather disrespectful term in regards to his father. Though shocked, she didn't speak or chide Lhaklar for his using "old man" in reference to his father.

"Hell no, how could he when he's either been on the first or second levels since—"

"Then why do you think I have it? Lhaklar asked.

"Why would dad want a magazine on outdoor living?" Hazaar asked. When Lhaklar tried to walk by him, he found himself as being grabbed and then thrown against the wall.

"F... I don't have your damn magazine, Hazaar!" Lhaklar snapped. "Either it's in your bedroom somewhere or Bile or Lazeer have it or dad, or one of the Goblins, took it."

"There's going to be hell for one to pay if I don't get it back!" Hazaar exclaimed.

He saw the people on the hallway's other end; their presence, alone, was what caused him to up the anti on trying to keep his cool—while Hazaar didn't seem to care about how he looked to others he thought that the first-time impression was the most important impression that one was able to get. Despite his attempts, he was having a time in keeping himself together—Hazaar was being a real pain in the ass today; so far, he had grumbled and whined, and had been gotten on by one or both of their parental units during breakfast, and then again about thirty minutes to an hour after breakfast was consumed, and he had also gotten into two fights with either Lazeer or Bile. Dad had done more than enough throat clearings during breakfast, and their mother had done more than say Hazaar's name during breakfast; Hazaar had come very near to being either grounded or sent to his room before finishing his morning meal.

Lazeer had been rather rude in leaving the table before being "dismissed" by the old man; dad had not looked pleased over Lazeer's up and leaving the table and that went double for Eshal, who had looked downright disgusted by Lazeer's rude action. He, Bile, and Hazaar had left after being dismissed; he and Bile had done some time in the gym before coming upstairs, he didn't know what Lazeer had done after finishing breakfast. Bile, who had gone up before him, had been found as listening to his music; after seeing what his brother was doing, he had gone into his room for his music ring—which was nothing more than a silver bracelet that played the tunes that were downloaded on it. After collecting his ring, then putting it around his wrist, he had left his room; he had been intending to return to the gym—Hazaar, who was ranting and raving over his missing magazine, had grabbed and then prevented him from doing this.

He had a strong feeling that it was either Bile or Lazeer that had the magazine; he didn't have it, and Hazaar obviously didn't have it, so it was either them two that did—or, unless the old man or a Goblin had gotten a good case of sticky fingers while being in Hazaar's room, that was. Since he had spoken his mind on the subject of the missing magazine, and since he didn't want any further transgressions to happen between he and his overly cranky brother, he shook his shoulders then made to walk down the hall. Hazaar was fast in pushing him back against the wall, and he was also fast in barring him from moving away from the wall when he made the move to do so—this move of his brother's caused him to be both pissed off and a bit embarrassed; the people at the end of the hall could see what was going on and they could probably also hear all of what was said between he and Hazaar too.

After feeling them two feelings, he tried again in going down the hall; Hazaar, instead of pushing him back against the wall, allowed him to go past by maybe two or three steps before grabbing him by the back of his shirt. Having his shirt pulled back, then having himself as being thrown back to the wall, caused him to lose it—he turned then he shoved his brother hard enough to fly back to the wall opposite the one that he had been thrown against.

"I don't have your fucking magazine!" Lhaklar exclaimed. "Lazeer came up here before you did, he probably has it!"

"I asked him numbnuts!" Hazaar rebounded from the wall then came at him; he was shoved twice before noticing the fist coming at him. He ducked just in time to avoid being punched. "He said that he didn't have it so that leaves you and B—"

"For crying out loud!" they jerked their heads in Bile's room's direction; Bile left his room in a hurry then practically threw a magazine, that had a mid-green spine on it, and a photograph of a group of humans rigging up a campsite on its front cover, at Hazaar. "Take your damn magazine! You let me borrow it from you late last night."

"I did?" Hazaar asked while bending down to retrieve his magazine. "I don't remember doing that."

"I do." Bile said.

"Well, I don't." Hazaar said. He shoved past Lhaklar then he went straight to his room; the door to his room was slammed hard enough for everyone to hear right after he went in.

"Someone better give him a chill pill." Bile said while shaking his head.

"Or one of them—" Lhaklar's chest heaved in before he started yelling in the direction of his brother's room. "—straight jackets and a gag!"

"Go to hell!" Hazaar's yell was so loud that everyone on the house's second and third levels could hear it.

"Maybe you should also get and then take a chill pill." Bile said before turning and then going back to his room.

While they were a little shocked over what they had just witnessed they weren't passing judgement on the two boys; Efagti and Amadh had had similar episodes between themselves, and that went double for Phaggo having it out with one or the both of them as well. When his two, older sons had been Tazir's kids' age, he had found himself as either hearing their constant fighting or having to separate them after their fighting went from plain verbal to verbal and physical. He and Ashaklar had done the quick trick of placing their hands to either side of Defe and Qhuakiz's heads after the two boys started cursing—there need not be any young children of theirs hearing and then taking to their own in using the words that someone older than they said.

Lhaklar was now coming towards them; with his grandson looking to be calm, he resumed the trek down the hall. He had his family follow him in a straight line—that way, Lhaklar would have a little easier passage in going down the hallway and that way no traffic jams occurred; he was also thinking around the area of not wanting his grandson to become freaked out over being in an overly congested hallway with people that he didn't know.

Lhaklar, while passing him by, gave him a passing glance; he returned the gesture by looking at him before resuming the task of leading his family down the hall. When he turned his head, to see what was going on behind him, he saw that his grandson was giving everyone that he passed by a passing glance—Lhaklar was acknowledging their presence and he looked a little curious about who they were.

He looked into the open chamber, that looked to belong to Bile, for just a second while passing it by; seeing as there was a shadow moving about in the chamber, and seeing that Bile had just entered this chamber, he decided to be quiet while going towards the stairwell that'd take him and his to the house's fourth level. He had only just passed the chamber when his adoptive grandson's head poked out from it—the youngster gave his backside a look, then he gave his passing family a look, before ducking back into the chamber that he had been given.


	16. Chapter 16

The room that he entered had a total of sixteen people in it; he ignored all but one of them while limping towards the chair that he was now a frequent user of. While en-route to his chair, he was very aware of the stares that he was getting and of the limp that he had—after reaching the gym, then turning his music ring on, then getting down to business in lifting a one hundred pound weight, he had found himself as being spooked by his father. The old man had come into the room—he claimed that he had only gone in to check on him, and to see if he was lifting over his limit, after noticing that he was in the room—silently then he had strode right up to his backside. _Hello son_ had been said then the weight had been dropped then he had been carted to the house's medical chamber—he had received a broken foot thanks to one of the 50-pound weights falling on it, and thanks to his father's silent approach and then sudden startle.

The medical table had managed to heal some of the damage caused to his foot while the rest—the mild fracture of the Lateral and Medial cuneiform bones, plus the fracture of the Metatarsais that went with his little toe—it hadn't been able to take care of. As of the last several hours, he had been icing, re-icing, and re-re-icing his foot and sitting on his bum in his room—under no circumstances had he been "allowed" to get to his feet and then move about, although he had done so during special occasions like bathroom breaks and plain wanting to not become stiff.

His foot was pretty well swollen, and it did hurt him a great deal, but he was trying his best to be as independent as could be—Zshon Zultoa had been asked to help him down to the dining room; even though he had been polite in "dismissing" the man he had still found him as following him and in wanting to help him in getting to the room where supper was about to be served.

"It's Duck-Foot!" Lazeer exclaimed after seeing him coming towards the table. "How's the flat-as-a-pancake foot this evening?"

"Hurts like hell and I wish that I could give it to you." Lhaklar replied.

"That sounds like fun." Lazeer joked. "Do you waddle when you walk now, or have you decided to relocate to a pond or lake somewhere?"

"Think he waddles now," Hazaar said. "Better call Bile... there's a big green duck in the house that he needs to take care of."

"Green ducks are pretty ducks but I'd imagine that the one that just waddled in here doesn't taste very good." Bile commented. "He might make for a good trophy, and story for the future kids, though."

"You alright, son?" TazirVile's voice was heavy with concern.

"Peachy," Lhaklar said while taking his seat at the table.

"Don't you mean quack-quack?" Hazaar laughed, as did Defe, Qhuakiz, and Phaggo.

"Alright, Lazeer. That's enough." Angel said.

"Yes, mom." Lazeer said.

"Quack quack." Hazaar said.

"Goes double for you, Hazie." Angel said.

"So, who's the duck again? Is it the mint-green one, or the one that has the deep purple tail of hair sticking out from the back of his head?" Bile asked. He leaned over, then held his hands up, after his mother gave him a look. "Hey now, ma. I'm just trying to figure out which of the two ducks that're in the house I'm suppose to hunt tonight."

"That's not funny, young man." Angel said to her firstborn son.

They started eating after Lhaklar was situated; after everyone started playing the grab game with the table's many placed food items, Ashaklar found that each of her grandsons had very healthy appetites to them. Tazir, earlier, had told her that Angel, for the last two days, had been letting one of the hired chefs help her in cooking the evening meals; half of that evening's meal had been prepared and then cooked by Angel while the rest had been cooked by one by the name of Ulision Volvio.

Angel was responsible for the present, but currently being devoured, pot roasts; a whole slew of BBQ chicken wings, a large bowl of homemade mash potatoes, and a few bowls of cabbage, artichoke, and spinach salad had also been made by her. Mr. Volvio had been the one to make the three leg of lamb and the steamed carrot and mini corn cob casserole. She didn't need to be told that her husband had two slices of pot roast, a slice of leg of lamb, and a helping of mashed potatoes on his plate; the man had started making his plate right after Tazir had and he had also made himself feel right at home at the table right after sitting down to enjoy his meal. She, and most of her children, had a few BBQ chicken wings and a helping of potatoes on their plates; Efagti and Phaggo had been the only ones of her brood to indulge in having three slices of leg of lamb and a helping and a half of the casserole.

"My goodness! Bile looks to be quite an eater." QeetaVile exclaimed after noticing that Bile had nearly the same amount of food on his plate as that of what her stepfather had on his.

"Bile's always been a fine eater," Angel said. "Same with the rest of my children."

QeetaVile Tintissi Surfeit, or Qeeta, as she seemed to like being called, and as he remembered her being called during his childhood years, looked very much the same. The woman was his adoptive father's only full-blooded sister and she was also his younger sister—she was five hundred years younger than the man who had taken him on as his own. Regardless of her being his adoptive father's sister, she didn't look like him.

Aunt Qeeta stood five foot, eight inches tall; she had long, jet-black hair that was currently half wavy. Her teardrop-shaped head resembled that of his father's—the holes where a nose would normally be were her nose while the mouth was O-shaped, but feminine in appearance. She had small breasts and a pencil-thin like body; like her brother, she had suction cups on the ends of her fingers. The complexion of her skin was teal; her eyes, which were silver in color, were circular in shape. She was wearing a light pink shirt that was pleated at the top; the pair of slacks, that were worn over her bottom half, were black while the slip-on shoes that were on her feet were a tinge darker than her shirt. The pink agate, that was hanging from around her neck, was the only piece of jewelry that she was wearing.

Since nothing adverse had been said about what he had on his plate he did nothing more than smile at the comment that had been made about his meal—if anyone had put up any fusses about what he had made for himself he would of pointed out the fact that most of the males seated at the table had similar plates to his before them; since no bad comments had been made on his meal, he spoke none of what everyone else was eating.

"Just you wait until dessert comes around," Angel said, then gestured at her husband. "The man who sits at the head of the table is just as bad as my boys are when it comes to filling his plate of the goodies."

"You made dessert, mam?" Eshal asked.

"Made half of it—Mr. Volvio's responsible for the rest of what was made."Angel replied.

"Mam cooks good," Eshal said to her grandparents. "We've been having to pull time in the gym after every meal."

"I can see how the boys got to being so healthy," TazirVile spoke. "If not for my now usual trips to the gym after meal-hour I'd be needing a new notch or two put in my belt."

"Lookloor looks like you, Tazeer." Defe said.

"A regular chip off the old block, Defe." TazirVile said.

"Had a feeling that you fell off a rock after you was born." Lazeer said to Lhaklar.

Mr. and Mrs. Ubalki's—her in-laws—had a rather cute set of younger children; the older of the two had a very unique appearance to her in regards to how the rest of her family looked.

Defe Tooke Ubalki was her name; from what her husband had told her, the child was five hundred and ten years old. Defe had the darkest of blue skin; her eyes were large, and oval in shape—the light bronze color that they had to them had, without a doubt, come from her father. Defe was the only one in her family to have hair—it was long, blonde in color, and, as of right now, it had a few flowers braided into it. Miss. Ubalki, who stood a tall, five foot two, was wearing a very pretty purple dress that had all sorts of floral designs on it; the shoes that were on her feet matched the dress very well, and they had little, light purple bows on them to boot.

While the Ubalki's, and her husband, didn't know this she did—she was keeping a good eye on her sons. She remembered very well that the Ubalki's weren't ones for people cursing in front of their growing children; she didn't want any of her sons to speak such language while being present before Defe or Qhuakiz, or anyone else that was slated to come in that was rather young for that matter. She knew all too well how hard it was for a parent to get their child to stop saying a specific word that he or she had heard or picked up from someone who was just passing by. Lhaklar, just after taking his place at the table, had been gotten on for his usage of 'hell' then had been told to keep his words basic for the evening—he had said 'okay' before waiting for his father to start the meal off.

"So, Lazeer, I hear that you like doing jokes, and being funny." Amadh said.

"Uh, yeah." Lazeer responded.

"Good to know—now that I'm here, I can take you under my wing and then teach you some fine stuff in doing both."

"Let him get use to you before you do so, dear." Ashaklar was fast to say.

Lazeer looked at the woman who had just "cautioned" his uncle to be slow in getting acquainted with him; his grandmother, Ashaklar Zoopray, had dark blue skin and a petite body—due her having medium-sized breasts, her body looked a little unbalanced. The eyes that were in her teardrop-shaped head were large and oval in shape—the old Foggy had, obviously, gotten his eyes from his mother. Like with the rest of the Ubalki family, she had two holes where a nose would be and an O-shaped mouth; she also had suction cups on the ends of each of her fingers.

She was wearing a red puff, long sleeve dress; the two-inch heels, that were on her feet, matched her dress perfectly. The red coral necklace, that was hanging down from around her neck, looked rather plain and simple while the green tourmaline and diamond ring, that was on her ring finger, looked rather expensive—he was fast in thinking that this ring, which had a gold band on it, was what she had been given on the day that his grandfather had finally popped the question.

Since he didn't want to attract any unwanted attention, or cause any fights to erupt between he and any of the male members at the table, he looked at his plate after seeing the basics of his grandmother.

"How is it that my father made just one child that has hair while my brother made two?" Blaiga asked.

While Cheshire, the girl's father, gave his daughter a sharp look they either glanced at her or stared at their plates. The one who had just spoken was another of their aunts; Blaiga Sarewelba Ubalki could well be passed off as being Phaggo's twin—she had dark blue skin, that was very girlie, and large, oval-shaped eyes that were a shiny, silver color. With her being two thousand, six hundred, and fifty-seven years old—about seventy-seven years younger than Phaggo was—she was in the age group that Eshal hung out with. She was wearing a blue and green, tie-dye blouse, that kept everything on her top half contained, and a pair of brown-colored jeans; the pair of sandals, that were on her feet, had a few beads on their foot-loops, and were light brown in color.

"What? I'm not asking in a bad way," Blaiga said after her seeing her father's steel-like look being centered on her. "While Lhaklar looks like a mint-green version of Tazir, and while he looks fine with not having hair, Hazaar and Lazeer are rather cute with the hairstyles that they have."

"They get their hair from me," Angel was fast in saying. "Tazir played a good part in making Lhaklar be mint green, and in Hazaar having dark blue skin and deep purple hair and eyes, and in Lazeer having periwinkle blue skin. Lazeer, at present, is the only one of my children to take after me in hair color."

"Did my part well in putting a good stamp on my boys." TazirVile said.

The comment shared by Blaiga caused Bile to feel left out; Lhaklar looked unfazed by the comment while he and Hazaar felt a little awkward. After Blaiga's comment was made, and after their father spoke about how he had "put a stamp" on them, they ate in quiet; it seemed strange that Defe and Qhuakiz were so quiet but, yeah, they said not a peep after absolute silence commenced in the room—with the two being in the age range that they were, they had expected for them to speak or make some sort of noise while eating their meal.

In all, it took about fifteen minutes for the meal to be consumed; after everyone was done with eating, they sat back then waited for the butlers to take up the table's assortment of items. The room's quiet air was shattered after his mother stood—the subject of dessert, they were sure, was about to be spoken of.

"Now that the main course has concluded we can now dive in on the course that the children have been chomping at their bits for." she said.

"Who said that it was just the children who were chomping at their bits in anticipation of dessert?" TazirVile asked. "Think I can vouch for everyone, My Dear—we're all looking forward to what you, and Mr. Volvio, have made."

When it came to eating any sort of meal, he was more for the main course rather than for the course that consisted of light items, like salads and soups, and sweets that consisted of the dessert round of the meal. He had enjoyed the main course that he had just consumed; while he wasn't "chomping at the bit" for dessert he was looking forward to what had been made—he wasn't going crazy over this part of the meal, though.

Tazir's seemingly high-interest in the meal's desserts caught him by surprise; his stepson was much like him when it came to meal hour—he was a meat, veggie, and potatoes type of man, and he preferred them types of items to the sweets.

Whenever his birthday came around, he was quite steadfast in having his wife keep the cake as being small and simple over large and exquisitely decorated and the same went with the ice cream—he'd do the honors of cooking his birthday meal on the grill, and he'd do more than smack his lips and belch after that part of the meal was consumed, while his wife took care of the "sweet" side of that day of the year's meal. He conducted himself decently after that part of the meal was consumed.

He watched as Angel, Tazir, and Bile stood up then left the room; they were gone for all of a few minutes before returning—Tazir, upon returning, had a tray on him while Angel had two silver dishes on her. Bile came in with a tray and a dish evenly balanced on his person. The items that had just been retrieved were placed on the table, then the ones who had retrieved them re-took their seats, then the first tray's lid was removed.

He was fast in seeing why his stepson seemed so excited over the dessert round of that evening's meal after the lids to all of the trays and dishes were removed.

"Great Gods!" he, Cheshire Keueitt Ubalki, came close to saying.

The first tray had three loaves of Banana bread on it while the second had a tier-like system rack on it that contained a blueberry, a pecan, and a glazed apple cream pie on it. One of the silver bowls had peanut butter cookies, that looked to have a strawberry filling in them, in it; another of the silver bowls had an "army-sized" serving of cinnamon-flavored donut holes in it while the other had nothing but strawberry lemonade ice cream in it.

Tazir started the dessert round of the evening meal by taking a slice of blueberry pie; he put a slice of each of the pies on his plate before taking four of the cookies from their bowl. He sat down after all of that was on his plate. The rest of the table's inhabitants went crazy in filling their plates to the brim after he was through in getting what he wanted—everyone but he, that was. He had a slice of blueberry pie, and then two of the cinnamon-flavored donut holes, before deciding to leave the rest to the others.

The decision to leave the rest of the meal's wide assortment of dessert foods to the table's other inhabitants was no more made before being retracted—his wife "slipped" in putting a dollop of the one bowl's ice cream on his plate; he had no sooner cleaned the "oops" spot on his plate before finding his palate as wanting more of what had been forced upon it. He had a single bowl of the strawberry lemonade ice cream before sitting back in his chair.

"Lazeer," TazirVile said after noting his stepfather's demeanor. Lazeer was fast in looking up and then over at him. "There's one final item in the smaller kitchen, can you get it for me?"

"Uh, yeah sure." Lazeer said.

He did as he had been asked to do; all while going to the smaller kitchen, to retrieve the item of interest that his father wanted to be brought to the table, he thought that what he was doing was odd. He and Bile, as of the last few days, had pretty much taken up the chore of helping their mother in cleaning the assortment of dishes and utensils that had been used with their morning and then evening meal; to find that he was retrieving something that had some unknown thing on it instead of taking certain dishes to the kitchen for cleaning made him feel like something was up.

Bile, just last night, had asked if a sort of cookie that was large and that's main ingredient was brown sugar could be made for one of the future-attended evening meals' desserts; their mother had said that she'd look into doing so one day but she hadn't said that it'd be anytime soon that he'd see his cookies as being made or served for dessert—he figured that the old Foggy, aka dad, had overheard Bile asking their mother about the cookies being made and had decided to make a batch for him himself and he also figured that what he was picking up was them cookies.

After reaching the kitchen, he saw that there was a large dish on the island; he'd need to be very careful in taking the dish to the dining room—if he dropped it he might well get yelled at by one of his parents or worse, both. He was slow in taking the dish up and he was also slow in leaving the room with it—it was heavier than he had originally thought it was and the aroma that was coming from it was rather intoxicating. He had a time in not stopping to see what it was that he was carrying.

In all, it took him all of five minutes before reaching the dining room with the overly-heavy dish; it looked like everyone had been waiting for him, which made him feel a trifle bit nervous. His mother, who must of known that he was nervous, stood from her chair then went to him—she aided him in taking the dish to the table and she also aided him in placing it right before his grandfather. With the dish on the table, she reached forward for its lid; a single rip up was what caused him to nearly laugh—while he had been carrying a dish that had Bile's Coyotas cookies on it he had also been carrying a dish that had something else on it.

There were two rings of Coyotas in the dish; in the center of them two rings was a large Lincoln biscuit—a sort of short dough biscuit that had a pattern of concentric, circle-like dots on its top.

"I remember you well, Mr. Ubalki." Angel said to Cheshire, who was staring at one of his more preferred dessert dishes. She had slaved herself to make this dessert; she hoped that he, who had looked so reserved during dessert's "main course", liked it.

"Tazir, make sure to make a reservation for me for your gym's use tomorrow morning." Cheshire said while standing from his chair. He took one of the knives, that had been used on one of the three still-present pies, up from the table then he set in on cutting himself a piece of the Lincoln biscuit.

The meal, as a whole, came to a close in five minutes time; with the meal done, their father stood then gave the signal for them to both vacate the table and to follow him. While the butlers and maids took care of the table's various items, they followed the man from the room and then down the hall—Lhaklar, with his "flat-as-a-pancake-foot", brought up the rear while their grandparents, and their kids, were between him and them.

That day hadn't been all that bad for him; while he had gotten up on the bed's wrong side, and had been a bit too cranky that morning, he had mellowed out enough for one to hang around with without having to be careful of what they said or of what movements they made. The Ubalki family had come over for their visit at nearly noon—with Zeta Ren being in a different time-zone than them, and with their having eaten breakfast only an hour and a half to two hours before coming over, they had skipped out on eating lunch. The old Foggy had been back and forth, checking on his mares and speaking to his mother and stepfather, and, when one or more approached him, his siblings, all day. Except for the mishap with Lhaklar and the weight, the man had left him and his brothers alone that day.

His exit of the table and dining room that morning had been done out of pure crankiness and his desire in wanting to test his father and sister out on how much "resolve" they had in not getting on him for something that he either did or didn't do—Eshal had spoken about it plenty while the old Foggy hadn't, so he guessed that his sister's resolve wasn't as thick or as good as the old man's. After leaving the table, he had gone upstairs to resume work on his model of the Spirit of Mississippi—it was coming along very well, and he was nearly done with it. He and his brothers had found themselves as having to be content with what they had for the last few days; the models that they had gotten from the old man a few days ago had been done in a very short amount of time, so they had had nothing to do to keep themselves room-bound and content in the two days that occurred between December 12 and December 14—but that didn't mean that they hadn't been content or busy during them days.

Along with visiting the gym, and using its various equipment, they had also explored the house and gotten use to some of the people that worked in it—while all who worked for his father seem pretty serious he had been able to hit it off rather well with one of the Gzujus twins; Lhaklar seemed to of hit it off well with Mr. Khrelan and the younger of the Speelin brothers while Bile seemed pretty chummy with the older of the Speelin brothers. Hazaar, from what he had been able to detect, hadn't made nice with anyone or made any sorts of connections yet—for some reason, he was keeping anyone who had the Zultoa surname at a distance from him. If talking to the staff, or working out in the gym, or exploring the house wasn't available to them then they just listened to music or watched the tv's that were in their rooms or looked at their December editions.

"Lhaklar's Munster Koach was completed yesterday; he wasted no time in calling all of us, and in inviting mom and the old man, to his room to see it." he thought while following Hazaar, who was walking in front of him.

Lhaklar's collection of model cars was getting rather impressive now; his brother's bookcase was getting rather full so it was looking like it was time for either another bookcase or some more shelves to be placed in his brother's room. The Buick Streamliner, the 1948 Lincoln Continental Coupe, the Cadillac Coupe De Vil, and the Buick Roadmaster Convertible Phaeton had been placed on shelf one and three of the bookcase while, sitting on the bookcase's fourth shelf, was the Ford Tudor Coupe, the 1929 Bentley 4.5 Litre, the Nautilus, and the Munster Koach—with the bookcase having five shelves on it, it was looking a bit car-overloaded right now. Lhaklar was rather proud of his collection and he wasn't afraid to show it to anyone who looked to have an interest in it—this had been shown after the incident occurred in the gym; Uncle Efagti had "popped" his head into Lhaklar's bedroom, which had prompted Lhaklar into telling him to come in and to "check out" his bookcase's collection of models.

The recently arrived Ubalki's had spent around an hour to an hour and a half on the house's fourth level before coming down to see and speak with the old man and to, of course, "pop" in on them and start in on introductions. As far as he could tell, the family was nice and respectable—the head of the family, a man who looked rather work-beaten and experienced, had cleared his throat twice before giving the door to his room a slight tap; he had said for him to come in then he had spent around five awkward minutes of talking to him, and in trying to figure him out, before seeing him on his way. The one who was the man's wife had done the same to him and his brothers about fifteen minutes later then Efagti and Amadh had come down to see and speak with them; they had yet to have any type of conversations, or interactions, with their other children. From what he could tell, the only one of his brothers who hadn't received the Ubalkis' introductions, or act of popping in for a look-see of the rooms that they had been given, was Hazaar—Mr. and Mrs. Ubalki had said hello to him, and had popped in on him to see how he was, and to, he guessed, look at his room, but they hadn't stayed for long after seeing how nervous he was of their company. Either Mr. and Mrs. Ubalki had told their two, older children how nervous Hazaar was or Efagti and Amadh had noted Hazaar's demeanor on their own—they hadn't popped in to see him, or to speak with him, or even to look at his room.

Bile had been the only one of them to be overly open in having the Ubalki's come into his room and speak with him; Mr. Ubalki—Granddad Cheshire, as he was suppose to call him—had looked a little "off" after seeing Bile's posters, and the two resin figures that had women on them that were near-naked or near scantily clad, but he hadn't said anything about them. Mrs. Ubalki—his grandmother—had conducted herself well in regards to them items while Efagti had acted in the same way that his father had about them; Amadh had been the only one to speak on them—from what he had been able to decipher, the man had just said a joke or two about them before "excusing" himself from the room and his brother's presence.

Eshal had been seen as spending a lot of time with the Ubalki's; she had spoken with them for long stretches, so he and his brothers were quite confident that she had said a lot of either untrue or negative things about them. Their sister, while having calmed down for and around their mother, hadn't stopped acting strange around them—she was still either hanging around the Goblins, or their mother, or she was playing shadow with the old man; when neither of them three things was available for her, she remained in her bedroom, doing what the Gods only knew.

"And the Bros say that I'm the weird one—think Eshal's taken that slot over these past couple of days." he thought just before his father opened the door to the room that he was leading them to.

Until now, he, and, he presumed, his brothers, had figured that the room was nothing worth his interest—with the set of double, heavy oak doors, that were covered in all sorts of dull gold knobs, being found as being shut, he had figured that it was a plain, normal ballroom, which was a room that he had no sort of interest in or wanted to be anywhere near. Instead of the room being a ballroom, he found that it was a living room instead—like with the rest of the house, it was extravagantly decorated.

The floor was made of a very well and highly polished walnut hardwood that looked to have a hand-scraped appearance to it; the walls looked to of been made out of a type of light and medium gray ledgestone while the ceiling was a soft gray color. All sorts of white and yellow bulbs were inserted in the ceiling; when the old man flipped the room's switch, all of the lights turned on—everything that had already been able to be seen was able to be seen in even more grand scale thanks to the lights being turned on. There were a total of three couches and chairs in the room—the two, coffee brown ones were placed more in the room's center while the third couch, that was a degree or two darker than they were, was against the room's left-side wall; one of the coffee-colored couches was contemporary in style, and had rounded edges and soft upholstery on it, while the other was a sectional. The dark brown couch was a super long, sectional that was half overstuffed. A brown leather chair sat before the two center-lying couches; in the room's bottom right and left corners sat two, light gray colored modern-looking chairs that had ottomans before them. A normal-looking, walnut wood coffee table was between the two center-lying couches and the one chair that sat before them; the super long couch had no table before it, but it did have a light brown, oak side table beside its left arm.

He'd be asking if he was in the residence owned by his father if no bat decor was present, or was able to be detected, in the room. The room's stationed fireplace, which looked to be made out of genuine ledgestone, wasn't lit but it did look to match the walls that were present in the room; photographs, of him and his brothers, of his father and one or more of his children, of Eshal, and of various other members of the family decorated the sides and about a quarter of the fireplace mantle. A portrait of a flying bat, that looked to be both snarling, grimacing, and smiling at the same time, was hanging above the mantle. The pit that the fire would roar in had a mesh gate hanging before it.

"Well, at least it's not "swallowed up" by bat-decorables." he thought while going towards the contemporary couch; Bile and Hazaar sat on either side of him while Lhaklar took up residency on the super long couch. Eshal sat "at a distance" from Lhaklar while Qeeta, Efagti, Amadh, Phaggo, and Blaiga sat between them. Granddad Cheshire and Grandma Ashaklar sat on the other center-lying couch while Defe and Qhuakiz "squeezed" in-between them. The old man took up residency in the chair that faced the fireplace. Their mother, both casually and not casually, sat on the arm of the chair that their father had taken to sit on.

It was quiet for a while after they took their seats; after five minutes passed, and after Qhuakiz had his "fun" in climbing from one of his parents' laps to the other before making the decision to run over to one of the room's vacant chairs, his grandmother decided to start up a conversation.

"So, Angel, it's been a while." Ashaklar said.

"It has, yes." Angel said. "Too long, if you asked me."

"You look good for one who's raised four boys on her own for sixteen hundred years." Ashaklar said.

"Thank you—it was a feat not made easy all the time. The first fifty years, I was rather thin. And frail." Angel said.

"Thin, and frail? What happened?" Cheshire, who sounded rather concerned, asked.

"Nothing more than usual round the clock nursing, and stressing over Lazeer, and the rest of my sons' healths."

"I'll be honest here," Cheshire leaned forward. "I'm very surprised that Lazeer's alive, and is as healthy as he is. We figured that he'd not live for long after you and your sons disappeared."

"Never underestimate a woman when it comes to the survival of her kids." Angel said.

"Tazzy tells me that you still let the boys nurse, is that true?" Ashaklar asked.

"Mhmmm. Yes, I do." Angel replied. "But only when they're especially stressed out, or injured or sick. Most of the time, they consume what I make for them from a glass."

"Pardon me for saying this but you should of weaned them by now." Ashaklar said. "By your continual nursing, you're putting yourself at risk for—"

"Mastitis, I know." Angel cut Ashaklar off. "I've been getting myself tested for breast cancer for years now. The doctors that I've seen have all said that I'm very healthy up top."

"Just so you know, and don't take my words incorrectly, I'm not picking on you about your continued breastfeeding of the boys." Ashaklar said. "I asked purely out of concern—I love you, as does my husband and family, and want nothing bad to happen to you." she said nothing after saying this for a short while; she let what she had just said sink in before speaking again. "When Tazir and Qeeta were little, I let them nurse until they were four hundred years old—and I only stopped letting them have the milk that I was producing for them after Duru started busting my can about how I was making them "dependent" of me."

"From what I've been told, long-term breastfeeding makes for better mental, physical, and emotional health." Angel said. "I've had my milk tested a few times—it's very high in everything."

"You still produce milk that's high in antibodies?" Ashaklar asked.

"Yes,"

"I'm surprised—when I was a student at the Academy of Womanhood I was told that a woman's natural milk will lose its antibody counts, and sugars, proteins, and waters, with each year that a woman partakes in letting her children nurse from her." Ashaklar said. "Are you able to keep up to the demands that they put on you? Can you produce enough milk for all of your sons?"

"I wake every morning to find myself full." Angel replied. "Have enough to make a half-glass for all of them."

"I can vouch for her on how "full" she is every morning—been finding myself as needing to be careful of touching her anywhere up-top with every waking." TazirVile verified what his wife had just said.

"That's very... interesting." Ashaklar said. "I guess if everything's going well with the feedings, and with your health, and with the milk that you're producing, then you should keep doing as you are with them. I'd not let them continue taking milk from you after they reach twenty-five hundred years of age, though—I weaned Efagti, Amadh, Phaggo, and Blaiga when they reached that age and I plan on doing the same with Defe and Qhuakiz."

That was... very awkward. With the women speaking of breastfeeding, and of weaning and general child-care, he felt very out of place; when he chanced a glance at his brothers, and at Phaggo, he saw that they were also feeling out of place.

His adoptive grandmother asked his mother a slew of questions about how she went by raising them and about how she managed to scrounge up the cash to pay for lodgings and for their basic needs; his mother responded by speaking about the jobs that she had taken on, and about her being in the movie business, and she also spoke about some of the places that they had taken to live in. She, either purposely or not purposely, left out the fact of their having taken up residency for two hundred years with his great-great grandmother, Dione, and her brood—while them years had been pleasant, and while he and his brothers had been able to grow and thrive while living in her underground, and underwater, castle, they had been glad to leave her abode for one of their own and they had also been glad to live a more natural life after leaving her and her broods' home.

His mother had just finished telling the tale of how they had fared during Earth's plague and disaster years when he decided to try to get up and then leave the room; he was just gearing up to say something about his going upstairs for an early nighter, and he was about to get up from the couch that he was sitting on, when his mother started speaking of something that he wanted to hear.

"Heard anything from the others, Tazzy?" they automatically knew that she was asking about the others that had been "accidentally sent" their invitations.

"Other than my grandfather? No—I was discreet with him on the invites when he called; according to him, he's neither seen nor gotten anything from me." TazirVile replied. He let this sink in for a minute before speaking again. "I'm thinking that we'll know the second everyone who's been sent an invite gets their invite—the bell will be continuously going off, or we'll be hearing the door being knocked on continuously, then we'll see the one who rang the bell, or knocked on the door, going down one of the above floor hallways."

"Is your father the same?" Angel asked. "Still rather mean? And contr—"

"Yes. He's still the same." TazirVile replied.

"Think he'd mind my asking him to not strike, or yell at, the boys do you?" Angel asked. Her husband gave her a long look before answering.

"Think it'd make him become a bit irked at you." TazirVile replied. "He might say a few things, and he might start a fight or two about the boys, but I don't think he'd hit one of them."

"Think we know why Angel asked the question on your father, Tazzy." Cheshire said. "She's thinking about the boys, and about their well-beings."

"Which is a good thing to think about when my ex is expected to make a visit." Ashaklar, who had been married to DuruVile Bolushi Surfeit, and who had gone through so much during her marriage to him in regards to worrying about whether or not he'd go too far in mishandling their son, for over two thousand years, commented.

"I'll put forth a warning now—if I find that he's put so much as a finger on either of my boys there's going to be one hell of a fight between the two of us that no one will be able to quell." Angel warned.

"Good to know that you're still the same in the protective sense towards your sons." Cheshire nodded his head after saying this. "Us men, we can be a rather protective sort when it comes to our young, but, when a woman's involved, things can get nasty and fast."

"Yes," the men in the room all said in unison.

While one of the newspaper articles, that she and her sons had read while being in the room that was now in-frequently being called the "Museum", had mentioned her older sister, and her husband, as having a child no other mentions of any of her other family having kids during her and her sons' tenure on Earth had been noted; she decided to ask the question on how many new arrivals had been added to the family after the warning on everyone watching themselves if a fight between her and her husband's father was initiated was given. While chatter on this subject was low, she learned that Tazir's father, and his wife, hadn't had any other children after Selik was born. From what she was able to gather from her husband, her grandparents had also not added any other children to their family; no word was given on whether any of her husband's sisters, or nieces, had given birth to any more children. Tazir did just about all that he could in dodging the question on whether Trobrencus and his wife, Bahne, had added anymore children to their family—Trobrencus and his wife were a rather private bunch so she pinned that as the reason to why Tazir wasn't speaking on their having or not having anymore kids; she had no explanation as to why he wouldn't tell her how many kids his sisters and nieces had birthed during her and her sons' absence.

The room grew very quiet after the conversation on the probable, or maybe not so probable, additions to the family were spoken about; Bile stared at the wall while Hazaar and Lazeer fidgeted for a bit before sitting still. Lhaklar fiddled around with his injured foot by removing its wrap of bandaging; he re-wrapped his foot after hearing his father clearing his throat then he did nothing more than look at the floor. Eshal picked at the arm of the couch that she was sitting on while Defe and Qhuakiz started making their rounds of the room; the two Ubalki children sat in the two chairs, then walked around the center-lying couches, then walked around the couch that their parents were sitting on, before being grabbed and then plopped on their parents' laps. She remained silent and still on the arm of the chair that her husband had taken to sit on before, at the very last second, deciding to get up and then move to the couch that Lhaklar, Qeeta, Efagti, Amadh, Phaggo, Blaiga, and Eshal were sitting on—Tazir groaned when she left him, and he acted like he was about to grab and then "force" her to remain where she was, but he didn't voice his displeasure in her leaving his side. She had a hard time in suppressing the chuckle that wanted to come out—it was often said that absence made the heart fonder; for Tazir, this saying was very accurate.

She had only just taken her seat between Lhaklar and Qeeta when Lhaklar decided to break the room's silence.

"How many bats did you count today?" Lhaklar asked.

"Came close to hitting three hundred, and that's not including the pups that're in the enclosures." TazirVile replied.

"So, the full tally is somewhere over that number?" Lhaklar speculated. "Like fifty to a hundred more?"

"Possibly."

"Still have the Platypuses that you caught on one of your birthday trips to Earth?" Bile asked.

During the room's second-felt quiet spell, he had suddenly remembered the fact that his adoptive father figure had gained a fancy in Earth's Platypus; the man had been so fascinated by the species that he hadn't been able to not capture and then bring a few home with him. The animals had lived in a half-adequate enclosure for a few months before one of the non-used rooms on the first level was prepared and then approved for their use—like with the bats, only the old man had been allowed to go into the room and interact with the animals. At the time that he and his family had taken up residency on Earth, the man had had a colony of around ten or so Platypuses in that room.

"If he does have them then they've probably grown in size—he, when I was a kid, wasn't keeping them from breeding and wasn't culling their numbers." he thought after remembering the fact of his adoptive father figure having a group of Platypuses during his childhood.

TazirVile didn't answer Bile vocally; he stood from the chair that he had taken to sit on then he gestured for everyone to follow him. Bile stood then followed his mother as she led him and his brothers from the room; Lhaklar, due to his crippling injury, brought up the rear. The Ubalki's dawdled for a bit before tracking them down and then following them to where they were going—Phaggo and Blaiga had been told to go upstairs and get ready for bed; Defe and Qhuakiz had been told to go with them.

They went down a couple of hallways, and made a bunch of left's and right's, before coming upon a short flight of steps; a large door, that had a pane of near-opaque glass on its top half, was beyond the steps—they went to it after descending the four steps that were present on the hallway. Once they were at the door, they stopped then watched as their father dug a key-ring, that looked to have more than four dozen keys on it, from one of his pants pockets.

"Regain your size," the man said after the key-ring, and its assortment of keys, was out of his pocket. "regain your shape, your size and your grooves. Grow to the size of your originality."

The keys on the key-ring grew to their appropriate size in the blink of an eye; after they were their original size, TazirVile took the one that went to the door's lock then inserted it. Once the door was unlocked, and the key-ring was back to being in his pocket, he opened it then went into the room that it sat before; his wife and children, and the remaining members of his mother and stepfather's family, entered the room in a near-neat line after he did.

The Platypuses, he had discovered soon after acquiring them, were semi-fast in reproducing and growing in size; after getting the room ready for them, then putting them in it, he had found himself as finding his four-member compromising group of egg-laying mammals growing from four to eight and then from eight to thirteen and so on. He had actually come under the belief that he had lost several of his female animals after they went into their underwater burrows to lay their eggs and then tend their young—without his wife's assistance, and insistence that they were fine, he would of gone insane with worry over whether his new pets were fairing well under his care. His wife had given him pointers on how to get the chamber decorated for the animals that were to inhabit it and she had also helped him in gaining a better understanding to the animals and in providing the female animals with items that'd aid them in bringing up their young.

He had sold several of his home-bred animals over the years; when their numbers grew to a level that was difficult to maintain, or when the gender ratios were found to be uneven, he had caught and then carted certain individuals to places where they'd be sold. He mostly sold his animals to private collectors, zoos, and oddity exhibits that wanted to show weird, or exotic, animals that came from other planets but, on occasion, he did sell to people who had an interest in wanting to acquire the animal as a sort of exotic pet. At the moment, his group of Platypuses was twenty-one strong.

"Cachu sanctaidd!" Bile exclaimed in Welsh, which was one of his learned languages.

"Watch your language, Bile!" TazirVile said sharply.

"I'd say that he still has them!" Lhaklar said after taking the room in.

"Bats and now Platypuses," Hazaar shook his head. "what else are you into?"

"Give me a minute and I'll show you." TazirVile replied.

Other than the general appearance of the animal, he had been fascinated by the fact that, at one time in the past, it had been seen as a pure hoax—after Angel spoke of these animals, then persuaded him into taking the trip to see them, he had figured that she was just pulling a tall-tale as a way to stay on Earth for a while longer. Angel had caught the first individual in his colony; after holding it up, then cautioning him about the spur, that had been present on the animal's back leg, he had found himself as being in awe.

It had the brown body, and tail design, of a beaver while its face had a bill on it; the feet were web-like in design—it was these alone that had told him that the animal was mostly aquatic instead of land-based. Only the male carried a venomous spur on its back legs; the females, while also having a spur on their back legs, didn't have a venomous spur on them. The females, quite interestingly, also had only one working ovary. The breeding cycle ran between June and October, two to three eggs were laid, and, for the most part, the animals were separate acting—while his colony was twenty-one members strong none of them twenty-one animals worked as a team or lived in the same burrow.

The original floor in the room had been taken out then a section of the floor had been lowered as a way to make a sort of lake; the trees, and the two dozen bushes that were present both before, to the left and right, and behind the trees, made the room look almost forest-like. He had been the one to put in the rocks, and apply the dirt surface that was present around the pond; a few of his staff had helped in filling the pond. Due to his habit of tossing three to four bags of loose leaves on the dirt floor of the room once every two to three months, the room had more than enough leaf litter in it to accommodate the female animals' needs when they got pregnant and then started the process of getting ready for their youngs' births—the female animals, he had observed on several occasions, collected the leaves and then took them to their nursery burrows for the nests that they were working hard to make.

It had taken him three years before he had learned that the animals were deaf and that they used a form of electrolocation as a means to find their prey—this had sealed his interest in the animals; why, bats also used electrolocation as a means to find their prey so, in a few ways, both they and the Platypus were similar.

Most of the animals were swimming in the pond while others were in their burrows; the two that were climbing the rocks, that lined one side of the room's created pond, were quite large. He and his family spent all of two minutes in looking at the room's inhabitants before turning to leave; once they were out of the room, he turned then locked the door—no need for any of the animals to get loose, or for anyone who lived or worked in the house to be nabbed by the spurs that were present on the males' back legs. He had no desire in having his pets confiscated from him and he had no desire in having to take one of his family to the hospital for having been poisoned by one of his pets.

After leaving the room that his Platypuses were in, he turned then started the process of leading his family towards the room that his collection of fish was in. It took all of two minutes for him to reach the room but, due to Lhaklar's injured foot, and to his having to move slowly and carefully because of his injured foot, it took nearly seven minutes for everyone to reach the room.

"Please, don't touch, or tap on, the tanks." TazirVile said just before inserting the room's key into the present door knob that looked like a gilded Starfish.

He remembered the vast assortment of tanks, and the animals that dwelled in them, right after entering the room that they had been set-up in; despite remembering all that was in the room, he kept his mouth shut—why spoil the "fun" of the room, or the old man's enthusiasm over wanting to show them something that he had an interest in?

Due to the vast assortment of tanks that were present in the room, the room was large; the hallway that was in the room went around in a circle, but the tanks that were in the room didn't allow for one to see any of what was going on on the room's other side. At one time in the mansion's long history, the room had been nothing but a plain, normal ballroom—from what he had been able to collect from his mother, the man had made the decision to do a full-room change sometime after he married his first wife.

The tanks stretched from floor to ceiling and were lit in a variety of ways; some were quite bright, while others were semi-bright, and then there were the two that were nearly dark. The first two tanks that he and his siblings saw belonged to two species of rays and sharks. To his left, a type of shark, that had an electric blue, horizontal stripe running down its sides, and a type of mini-White shark were swimming about in a near pitch black tank; to his right, a type of Rayfish, that was a mostly yellow color, and that was flecked with all sorts of light blue dots, was swimming in a semi-bright tank. The Rayfish had come from Earth while its companion species was a breed that came from Moas—the black and gray dotted, yellow bodied ray had a long trunk on it that it used to suck up crustaceans and other floor-bound items that made up its diet; the tail that it had sported a pronged end and two poisonous spikes on it.

The next two tanks that they saw had nothing but fish and small-range sharks in them. The first one that he looked at had several Blobfish, Angelfish, Starfish, Eels, and a Moas-based fish that's gills, flippers, and tail were a bright green color. The other tank had an interesting fish in it that had translucent skin and large, black eyes; the Turrentfish, Mandarian Gobby, Yashia Shrimp Gobby, and the Cubicus Boxfish were all present and looked rather happy in their captive environment—all of these had come Earth sometime in the past.

He and his brothers were just passing the tank that had the Cubicus Boxfish in it when two other fish were noted as being in that species' tank. The first shark was long, and black striped; when it latched onto the glass of the tank, they saw that it had a suction-like mouth on it. This shark was a native species of Gamma Vile—at the time that he and his brothers were removed from Moas, the shark had been deemed as an endangered species. The old man had been required to get a special permit to keep the individuals in his care after the species was added to the GVEFL—the Gamma Vile Endangered Fish List. A type of shark that's mouth was on a long tube, and that was a lime green color, took the place of the other shark after the other shark removed itself from the tank's glass side; this species of shark had come from another planet in the M-51 Galaxy—by all initial opinions, it looked happy and healthy and it also looked to be thriving in its captive environment.

"Hey, I think this fish wants someone to give it a kiss." Lazeer said after the shark latched itself onto the glass side of its tank.

"That's one of my Suction Sharks, son." TazirVile said. "Have five of those."

"Maybe he wants a kiss from you, Little Man." Amadh said. He had no more said this before the fish de-latched itself from the side of its tank; it swam off then disappeared right after removing itself from the cold glass that surrounded its watery environment.

"I'm sticking my neck out of this but I think his intended target was you." Lazeer said. Efagti and Phaggo chuckled lightly while Amadh simply smiled back.

They were just making the turn, and were just starting in on looking at the other tanks that were in the room, when their mother, grandmother, and Qeeta shivered; their father, having noticed the trio's shiver, hurried them along. They saw the other tanks, that had their colorful coral reefs, or that were near bare for the sharks or other fish that required a non-colorful environment to live in, and that had a varied ecosystem in them, quickly before making their exit of the room. Once they were out of the room, and once the door was locked, their father continued to lead them along; he led them down two hallways before he decided to step up beside Hazaar; they had yet to say much to one another after that morning's fight and he had yet to apologize for what he had said to him. His brother glanced at him, then made a small sound that told him that he had seen him, but he didn't say hello or even say two words to him.

He guessed that his older brother was still miffed at him; he dropped to his previous position in the line that was following his father then he looked at the floor. While he wanted to make-up to his brother for the things that he had said, and while he wanted to talk to him, he saw himself as not being able to do so—why speak to another when that person is giving you the cold shoulder, or obviously doesn't want to talk or play the make-up game with you?

They went down this hallway, and then that hallway, for a short duration of three minutes before losing sight of the one who was leading them; after a two-second panic, and after turning the corner, he saw where his father was—the man, who seemed to be in a big hurry for some peculiar reason, was standing in the hallway's center. It looked like he was waiting for them. He gave them a small smile after seeing them as rounding the corner then he turned; he resumed the task of leading them down the hallway.

He and his brothers were just suppressing yawns, and were starting the process of thinking boring thoughts about what they had done over the last several minutes, when they came upon a hallway that was flanked on both sides by fish tanks.

"Bats, Platypuses, and fish," Hazaar thought after seeing the hallway. "I have one weird father."

Bile was thinking around the same as Hazaar was; while he liked to indulge in an occasional fishing trip, and while he liked eating fish, he wasn't all that big a fan of keeping fish as pets or of taking tours of places that were semi or completely dominated by tanks of marine life. His adoptive paternal figure, while looking to be taking good care of his collection of pets, had really gone overboard with the bats and fish—he wondered for all of two seconds if the man was alright upstairs before figuring that the man was and that he was just really into the hobby that he had decided to become involved in.

The tanks in the fish room were for the bigger or more aggressive saltwater fish while the ones that were on the hallway were for the smaller, more colorful, and less aggressive saltwater fish; each tank had crystal clear, blue water in it and they also had a rocky background and sandy bottom to them.

The orange and white, and the blackish-red and white variety of Clown fish were swimming about in the tank that was to the left of the hallway; dark blue Jewel Damselfish, that had light blue spots on their sides, fins, and tail, were darting in and out of the tank's coral while Neon Damselfish, that had blue stripes on their bodies, and Flourescent Blue Damselfish, that were the brightest of electric blue color, were swimming above the tank's placed coral. Black and gold, bi-color Chromis, Blue-green Chromis, and Fiji Devil Damselfish, the latter having a body that was separate in color, with one half being blue while the other was yellow, were swimming around the tank's rocky background. The fish that were swimming near the sandy bottom of this tank were called Radiata Lion fish—all of the fish that were in this tank had come from Earth and, in fact, they had been caught one day when the old man and their ma went deep sea fishing.

All sorts of alien fish, of various colors, sizes, and shapes, were in the hallway's other tank; he looked at these fish for only a second, taking in their strangeness, and wondering, once again, why his father had taken such an interest or had such an interest in creatures such as what was in the tank, before latching onto the idea of coming up with an excuse to leave the group. It was heading on eleven o'clock; the old man would want him and his brothers, and Eshal, in bed and he'd also want them to go to sleep—they had learned rather quickly that the man was okay with their turning their tv on to watch a program or two after finding that they weren't able to go to sleep a few days ago. Lhaklar had pushed the envelope by staying up for most of the night, to put together a model, and to watch his tv, yesterday; the old man had not been pleased with learning that he had done that and he had actually "threatened" to remove the tv and any and all unfinished models from his room if he was caught staying up again.

"Pardon me, I've greatly enjoyed seeing, and remembering, the fish in the room, and in this hallway, but I do think I need to head upstairs for the rest of the evening." he said. He stopped, then turned, then made to go down the hallway in the opposite direction that his family was going in. "I do, after all, have a mint-green duck to catch sometime in the future. And it's getting late."

"Night, Bile. Sleep well. See you in the morning." TazirVile said. "Now that he's mentioned it, it is getting rather late. Think it's time that all of us retire for the evening."

"What's on the agenda for tomorrow?" Angel asked her husband.

"Nothing more than have you and the boys reaquaint yourselves with my mother, stepfather, and their family." TazirVile said. "The day after, I have something in the planning stages for you five."

"What do you have planned?" Hazaar asked, he hoped that it wasn't another escort through Fish Paradise.

"You, your mother, and your brothers will find that out in two days time." TazirVile replied.

"No fair! You're keeping us in the dark. That means that we'll be up all night, staring at the ceiling, or at the walls, wondering what all you've—"

"My son, you and your brothers will find that all of that ceiling and wall staring to be a good thing." TazirVile said. He smiled, nodded his head, then held his hand out for his wife; Angel took it then followed him as he led her down the hallway, and away from her sons. "Night everyone, sleep well."

"He really _is_ a weird one." Hazaar whispered to Lazeer. His brother, while shocked over finally hearing him say something to him, couldn't agree more with him.


	17. Chapter 17

The room, for the last twenty to twenty-five minutes, had been quite dark; once the switch, that was to the right of its appointed door, was slapped to the ON-position, this changed in the blink of an eye. The very dark, red-brown vanity, that had a dark mahogany sink on it, and that had a three-way mirror above it; the mahogany bathtub and sink; and the multi-gray, contemporary floor tile shown brilliantly in the glow of the room's newly turned on lights. His image flashed in the Mosaic wall tile while he rushed to the vanity and its stationed mirror—at the moment, he could care less about how bright the room was or about what it looked like; his only concern, at the moment, was to get his hair done and then to get back downstairs before he was overly missed by his family.

Once he was at the vanity, he removed the wand, that was embedded in the loops of his pants; he gave the wand a flick right after it was in his hand then he opened his mouth to say the spell that was needed to be said for the mirror to grow and then wrap around him. Due to how out-of-breath he was, the spell that he wanted to say wasn't able to be done—after taking in two, deep breaths, he flicked his wand and then opened his mouth again. Unlike the last time, the spell was said and the mirror did as he wanted it to do.

"Ran a damn marathon to get up here; now, it's time to slow up some—so I can get my hair fixed to looking like it's mine instead of someone elses and so I don't have a bloomin' heart attack." he thought while the mirror wrapped itself around him.

Most of what he had owned when he had been on Earth was here; the old man, during his ransacking of his and his family's former apartment, had found all of what he had hidden under the downstairs bathroom floor—instead of finding it, and then discarding it, he had sent it here, where it had been set-up for him. While it had taken him a while to get back in the groove of being him, and of using the stuff that had been set-up for him, he was glad that most of what he had owned while being on Earth was still in his possession—and he was double-glad that he was allowed to use the stuff that he used on his hair without finding someone as "standing guard" at his elbow; with the way his father was, he had figured that he'd do this right after learning that he was back at it in using the various items that he used on his hair.

A set of trays had been rigged to the wall that was beside the vanity; the three boxes, that his various hair-care items were in, were neatly placed on them. The first tray had the box that had the more important stuff in it—the metal rod, that he used to grab strands of his hair with; a small brush; a small comb; and a pair of silver-chrome hairdressing scissors—while the box that was on the second tray had the stuff that he used to give his hair some style—the two, four inch long by two and half inch wide plastic containers, that contained his collection of red, yellow, light blue, and light purple beads and feathers, and the small, round, ceramic bowl, that had nothing but hair-use rubber bands in it, was what was in this box. The box that was on the last tray had the stuff that he no longer used on his hair in it—the ribbons had been used once before being placed in the box and the same went with the gaily-colored beads and feathers; the two containers of light purple and black hair color dye had been given the same treatment. The old man had gone out of his way to purchase him some new beads sometime after all of this had been set up—the gold-colored beads, and the beads that had a light and dark purple, leopard print design on them, were in the second box while the color-changing beads were in the third box. He had "tried" the color-changing beads a few days ago and he had found himself as not liking them, so they had been added to the box that his dis-use hair-care stuff was in.

"Quit lollygagging and do what you're here to do!" he snapped at himself after the mirror finished wrapping itself around him.

The metal rod, that he was taking from the first box, wasn't the one that he had owned when he had been on Earth; the original rod had been found as being missing on the day that he had decided to resume his old habit of fixing his hair up. After turning the boxes inside out, and then after turning both his bedroom and its stationed bathroom upside down, he had gone to find his mother. Seeing as they were about to be taken out for breakfast, he hadn't been able to ask her about it—he had been forced to wait until after their trip to Laetiquoar Buffet concluded. After the meal at the restaurant was over, and after they were home and somewhat unwound from that morning's events, he had asked her about it—with his father being in the area, he hadn't had to ask her to ask him where the item was; the man, after saying that he had thrown it out, and after explaining the reason to why he had thrown it out, had promised to get him a new rod to use on his hair. The metal rod that he was about to use looked exactly like his old one—it was thin, medium gray in color, and chicken wire-like in appearance. Once this rod was in his possession, he shoved it into his hair then gave it three twists; after having a decent-sized strand of hair on the rod, he pulled the rod to the side then, with his free hand, reached for one of the gold-colored beads.

"If it works then why get rid of it, or stop using it?" he asked himself while sliding one of the beads onto the strand of hair that he had collected. He said a spell, that braided a small section of the strand that he was holding, then he slid another bead in place; he did this twice more before tying the strand off with a rubber band.

Last night, he had noticed that his hair had grown to five inches and that it had more than enough split ends in it; he had used the pair of hairdressing scissors to snip his hair back to his preferred length of four and a half inches then he had examined his hair to see if he had gotten rid of all of the issues that he had noticed with it—a nod had been given, then his middle finger had been shot at his reflection, then the scissors had been returned to their box after he had seen that his hair was back in order again.

He made use of the metal rod four more times; two strands of hair were fully braided while another was half braided—the half-braided strand of hair had a bright yellow feather embedded in it. After a little consideration, he decided to go on and give the color-changing beads another try—since he didn't want to hurt dear old daddy's feelings, he might as well try to get use to them. He slid one of the beads onto the fifth strand of hair that he had collected, then he said the spell to make a small section become braided, then he placed another bead behind it; he did this twice more before tying the strand off with a rubber band. With his hair fixed, and with the metal rod being back to being in its box, and with the spell that'd return the mirror to its original appearance having been said, and with the mirror halfway returned to looking the way it had before he had come into the room, he turned then fled the room that he had run to.

The door to his room was wide open; he ran out it, then down the level's hallway, then down the stairs, then down the second level's hallway, and then down the stairwell that wound around the foyer's right side. In all, it took him two to three minutes of running before he reached his family—who he had left long enough to do his hair after learning, and then remembering, that there was something on their agenda that they were to do today.

Seeing as he had broken his neck in getting to his room's bathroom, and then to get down to the houses's first level after finishing the chore of doing his hair, it was no surprise to him, or to his family, that he was winded after reaching them.

"Quick! Someone get him a breathin' mask!" Lazeer exclaimed almost immediately after he arrived in the hallway that his family was on. "He's about to keel over!"

"Lazeer, that's enough." TazirVile said. "Hazaar, thought I told you to not run in the house."

"S-s-sorry," Hazaar gasped. "I d-didn't mean t—"

"There's no need for you to of rushed yourself," TazirVile said. "We had no issue in waiting for you."

"What do you have up your sleeve for us today, dad?" Lhaklar asked.

Instead of answering his son, TazirVile reached into his dark green tuxedo jacket. The long pieces of fabric, that were in his inside jacket pocket, were taken out and then given to his sons. Only after distributing the pieces of fabric did he speak.

"I want you to wrap these around your heads—cover your eyes." After saying this, he turned to look at his wife, who was standing right behind him. He gave the lone piece of fabric that was on his person to her then he smiled at her. "That includes you, My Dear Lovely Wife."

"I'd love to but I'm afraid that I'm allergic to blindfolds." Lhaklar said.

"Same here." Hazaar said.

"Oh, well, I guess that you two will miss out on this thing that I've got planned for you, your mother, and your brothers then." TazirVile said. He looked at Lazeer, who was fingering the piece of fabric that he had given him; his wife, and Bile, had already slid their blindfolds on. Neither had said a thing about being blindfolded. "So, is this it for today? It'll just be my wife, and Bile, who'll join me on what I've got planned for us?"

Even though he grumbled, he put the blindfold over his head; he fiddled with the part that went over his eyes for a bit before reaching forward—the feel-around routine was done for a few seconds before a shoulder was felt and then grabbed.

The act of his being given a blindfold, and then being told to put it on, didn't sound right; why couldn't the old Foggy tell them to just plain close their eyes, and then grab the shoulder nearest them, or, better yet, just lead them to whatever he had planned while they were fully able to see what was going on around them? He didn't see reason in this and he didn't like the idea of his wearing a blindfold while being led to some unknown location either; the idea of the old man taking their blindfolded selves somewhere, then telling them to stand put, then making a swift getaway before yelling for them to remove their blindfolds came to him easily—he could see the man's backside growing distant from him and his family now, and he could also hear the gasps, and see the shocked expressions that overcame his and his family's faces, after they saw that they had been taken and then left all alone in a location that was a distance from home.

The last two days had been fine; while they were still getting use to the Ubalki's they weren't as nervous of them as they had been on the day of their arrival. Hazaar, just yesterday, had actually calmed down long enough to hang around Phaggo for a short while; he had done the same with Efagti and their grandfather—though, with the latter two, his sticking around them had been a lot briefer than his stay with Phaggo. As far as he could tell, Amadh was okay. A bit funny, reminded him of himself sometimes, but cool; the guy did have an adult side to himself that he had discovered just before breakfast concluded that morning—after inserting a curse word into one of the jokes that he had said, the man had come back as saying that he didn't need to cuss and that being a joker didn't mean that you can be so open in throwing curse words. His parents, who had looked rather shocked over hearing him saying that to him, had agreed whole-heartily with him.

While he wasn't one to curse all the time, and while he knew better than to curse in front of others, or in public, he did like to be open; he guessed that the days of his being open with the whole of his family were few and far—he could curse in front of his mother and brothers but, with the rest of his family, he couldn't. The bit to his bridle, sadly, had been put into effect after Amadh had said something about his not needing to throw a cuss word into what all he said or joked about.

Lhaklar, he had noted, was somewhat worried about Bile; normally, the Big Guy would speak after waking up, and when they were at the table—not so much as a peep had been heard from his oldest brother all during breakfast. Usually, Bile was only quiet and to himself when he hadn't gotten in a good night's sleep; while there were some dark areas under his brother's eyes, and while he looked to be walking around in a near-daze, he didn't look to of gone through an all-nighter in not getting any sleep. If he had to make any guesses, Bile might of gotten three to five hours of sleep last night.

"Which is the near-standard amount of sleep that any one being gets." he thought while walking on. The hand that was on his shoulder, he figured, was Lhaklar's—his foot was still giving him trouble, so it was quite easy for him to think that it was he who was following him.

What his brother didn't know was that his foot was killing him—it was still very swollen and, due to his being stubborn in wanting to use it, it had gone from being normal colored to a mixed, dark green-light green-medium green color. Despite this, he was trudging on—the old man obviously wanted him to come along; he had neither said for him to lean up against a Goblin, or had asked for a Goblin to help him in walking to wherever he was taking him and his family, or had said for him to sit what he had planned for everyone out.

With the sounding of his alarm clock, he had gotten up and then gone straight to his bedroom's adjacent bathroom; a shower had been taken, then his teeth had been brushed, then he had returned to his bedroom to get dressed. The red, orange, and brown striped, long sleeve, button down shirt was tucked in well and the pair of dark brown formal pants had a near-black belt around their waist; the process of putting the pair of light brown socks, and his usual pair of brown shoes, on his feet had been hairy—because of his still injured foot—but he had managed to get them on without yelling, groaning, or admitting defeat and then deciding to go around barefoot that day. After getting himself squared away in the bathroom, then getting himself dressed, he had gone down for breakfast—which had come to a close nearly thirty minutes ago.

The old man, about twenty minutes after breakfast concluded, had made the call for everyone to come to him and then to follow him; he had questioned Hazaar's antsiness after noting it, then, after being told that he had "left something upstairs", he had said for him to go up and that they'd wait for him. Waiting for him to do his hair had been annoying, yes, but he had relished in the small break in using his foot.

He was still limping, and pretty badly too, but that didn't slow him down from following the one that was in front of him. He didn't know where he was, or where he was being led to—unlike Lazeer, who had let his mind run on him in thinking that the old man was planning on taking them somewhere and then running off, leaving them all by their lonesome, he thought that they were being taken to a part of the house, or its adjoined property. The one who's shoulder he had a-hold of walked for a while before, finally, coming to a stop; the brother who's shoulder he had took a few steps after stopping then came to another stop, which seemed to be a permanent one as he didn't move further after this final stop was made. He was just about to ask where he was, and what it was that was shining through the fabric of his blindfold, when a pair of hands touched his shoulder; he was guided to the left by about two or three steps before being led down what he thought was a flight of steps. Once down the flight of steps, he was told to stop and to stay put.

"Alright. Everyone, remove your blindfolds." Lhaklar heard his father say.

He did as he was told; once his blindfold was off, he blinked his eyes then turned. Lazeer, he saw, had been stopped right after leaving the mansion; his little brother was removing his peanut-shaped eye-glass case, which was in his back pants pocket. Lazeer, after taking his goggled glass from his case, then affixing it over his eye, went towards the porch steps; his descent down the stairs was slow, and cautious, but he made it to the very bright area that he, and their brothers, were standing in.

"You four know the score now." his father, who was standing just before their mother, said. "Go, do some exploring—Lazeer, that includes you. No excuses this time."

He should of known that this was what his father had up his sleeve for them today; while he was glad to finally have the chance to try out his new goggled glass, and be able to do as one who didn't have an eye ailment could, he was a trifle bit nervous about being told to go out on his lonesome in a yard that was as big as what was in front of him. His brothers were fast in moving away from him; he looked at the mansion before turning back to look at the yard—the mansion's back was burgundy in color, and looked to boast a lot of windows on it; he had seen a few balconies, and a roof that spiraled up, and that was capped by what-looked-like a gold sphere, while gazing at the building's back.

Hazaar went off to where the shore was; he followed him for a while before deciding to go towards the stable. Lhaklar, he noticed, was heading in the same direction that Bile had gone in—he was fast in figuring that the two were planning on having a smoke together while conversating on matters that had been going on in their present lives.

Eshal, Blaiga, and Defe were gathering a few flowers, that were growing by the outside fence of one of the horse pastures; Phaggo was currently being chased by Qhuakiz, who seemed to have a bit too much energy that morning. He had no clue as to where his grandparents, or his aunt, or his two older uncles, were; no sight of them was able to be seen in the yard.

"Might as well check in on the animals, and see what all baby horses were born over the last few days." he said just before entering the stable, which looked more like a long barn instead of a stable to him. He ducked into the stable then he "disappeared" right when his second oldest brother started tracking their older brother down.

Lhaklar did a single, slow turn before moving forward in a straight line; with the way his brother had acted that morning, he wanted to speak to him and he wanted to know what was up with him. Bile, though sometimes being hard-headed and stubborn, was usually a good-natured guy who spoke and included others in certain activities. Bile had just shut himself off to everyone that morning and he wanted to know why.

Though it took him a while, he reached the section of the yard that, at one time, been open and empty of any sort of foliage. Trees that had long, green and yellow tendrils hanging from their branches; trees that resembled the ones that had the red and pink flowers on them; and Weeping Willow-like trees had been planted and then allowed to grow all along this part of the yard—while thinking that all of this was pretty he also thought that this was a bit too much. In all, he saw six to eight trees before, finally, finding the one that his brother had "escaped" to. He went to this tree, which had a row of bushes, that had white leaves on them, around it, then he ducked under its assortment of hanging matter; Bile, to his surprise, wasn't only under the tree's foliage but was also holding a joint between the fingers of his right hand. Bile, who had gone from being calm to tense after seeing the tree's hanging foliage being parted, calmed down after seeing that it was he who had found his hiding spot.

"Bile, you crazy?" Lhaklar whispered. He walked over then sat beside his brother.

"No, I'm taking advantage of a good hiding place to have a smoke." Bile replied while leaning back on the log that he had taken to sit before. He made a tiny flame appear on the end of his index finger; the end of the joint was held to the flame for only a second before having its other end placed in its holder's mouth. Bile took a long drag from the stick; he held the smoke in for several seconds before exhaling. "Worth every step here—I'll do some exploring after I'm done with this."

"You feeling alright this morning?" Lhaklar asked. He exhumed his stash of cigarettes from the ground; one of the packs was taken up, then opened, then had one of its cigarettes removed from it. Once in possession of a cigarette, he sent his stash back to being under the ground. "You was rather quiet when we were eating breakfast."

"So what." Bile shot. "Can't a man have a quiet moment?"

"You're usually not the quiet type, or the type to be quiet in the morning hours." Lhaklar said while putting his cigarette in his mouth. He shot a small beam of energy at the other end of his cigarette then he took a drag.

"I was still waking up,"

"You do have some bags under your eyes." Lhaklar nodded his head. He took a small puff from his cigarette before leaning back against the log that his brother was leaning against.

They said nothing more to one another for a few minutes; Bile smoked his joint, and he smoked his cigarette, before the conversation that caused him to think that his brother was crazy, and that caused him to nearly take a trip to Fear Lane, occurred.

Bile was much like him and their brothers—he was a Mama's Boy. While he sometimes joked about it, he never spoke about leaving the nest, or about wanting to strike out on his own, in a serious manner—the fact that his brother was sitting here, telling him that he wasn't sure about things, and that he wanted to leave, scared him half to death. Bile claimed that, while he was able to take living here before, he wasn't able to anymore; he also claimed that he felt himself as being too restricted. After a few seconds passed, he said that he didn't feel worthy of living where they were and that he missed Earth. He was just clearing his throat to speak to his brother, and to tell him to not be so silly, when his brother said that he felt like there were eyes watching his every move.

While he felt the same as Bile did, and while he understand where Bile was coming from, he thought that his brother was losing it a bit; he did feel a little awkward in the house, and with his "new" life, but he was getting use to it. Up to now, he had figured that his brother was doing the same. He guessed that he understood how Bile felt about the eyes thing, and about feeling that his every move was being watched, but he couldn't see that as reason enough for his brother to be speaking in the way that he was. Now that they were allowed to go outside, and explore the yard, they could escape that feeling... they could escape things. They could breathe, and be on their own, and think their thoughts, and maybe even talk to one another, without feeling the presence of someone watching them.

Lhaklar finished his cigarette, then he stubbed it out before making the whole of his hand become engulfed in flames—the remnants of his cigarette were incinerated in less than a fraction of a second. After doing this, he turned to speak to his brother about what he had said—he didn't know if his brother was serious about leaving but he did know that he didn't want him to leave. He loved the guy; he was close to his older half-brother and he knew that Hazaar and Lazeer were too. If Bile up and left, he'd be crushing not only him, Hazaar, and Lazeer but also their mother... and he'd also make their mother become hysterical if he decided to leave.

"Where are you planning on going after you leave us?" Lhaklar asked. "Do you have a plan in motion? What are you going to do? Are you planning on finding work? What type of housing are you going to take up to live in? Food, and the utilities, don't pay themselves, you know."

"Back to Green River, where else?" Bile sounded distant; he didn't sound like he was fully there. Lhaklar took one look at his brother before flashing his hand at his face.

"You, like the rest of us, said that you didn't want to be away from mom. You said that you loved her so much, and that you couldn't bare to be away from her, or from us. You said that the years when we were in school were horrible for you—you missed us and you didn't want to spend a minute of any day away from us." Lhaklar's chest was heavy; he almost felt like crying at that moment. "You leave here and you crush our mother and us. You want our mother being brought to tears because one of her sons disappeared? You want us, your brothers, to feel like we're not complete because you can't get a grip on yourself?"

"What're you talking about man? I'm not leaving here on my own—I'm taking all of you with me." Bile said while giving his head a shake. "You're my family, but I can't stay here. I can't when—"

"You can if you try," Lhaklar said. "You were doing well yesterday, and the days that preceded yesterday. What happened? Seems that you've gone from being fine and dandy with things to not being so fine and da—"

"Places like this make dreams happen, man. Recurring dreams, and nightmares that make one wake up drenched in sweat, and breathing heavy." Bile, again, sounded not there; Lhaklar was about to slap him again when he said something that stopped him. "I saw our apartment go up in a violent explosion last night... in the dream that I had, then I saw a shadow walk away from its flaming remains. Even after waking up, then staying awake for minutes on end, then going back to sleep, it resumed itself from where it ended."

Since he had already seen "Mohund Breeding Central"—aka, the building that was near the shore—he steered clear of it; after walking along the rocky shore for a bit, getting a bit of ocean water splashed on him, and trying to get somewhat use to the planet's natural surface, he turned then started towards the area that was flanked by the rose bushes. A trail led away from the rocky shore so, after reaching it, he went down it; due to what happened during the last time that he and his had been allowed to explore the backyard, he hadn't been able to see what was in the area that was flanked by the bushes. He had plans to check the area out that morning and, if he had time to do so, he also had plans to check out the building that looked like a cave.

The path, while starting out as being the planet's natural surface, which had either been sanded or very heavily smoothed out, gained an artificial surface to it almost immediately after he started down it. To him, it looked like the artificial grass had been fused with the natural surface that it had been put on—during a small stop, to take in his surroundings, he had seen that the roots of the grass were clinging onto the smoothed-over rocky surface that it was on. He had also seen that some of the roots disappeared after fusing with the natural terrain as well—he found this to be interesting; as much as it boggled his mind, the artificial blue grass seemed to of taken a liking to the original terrain... which looked to still have its natural color to it.

From what he had heard, artificial terrain caused the terrain that was already present on the ground to turn colors—due to the original terrain being covered over, it wasn't able to get the light that it needed, which caused it to lose out on getting the nutrients that it needed to stay healthy and to grow. Artificial terrain was said to be rough; it caused a lot of painful, open lesions to occur to the ones that used it—due to this type of terrain having all sorts of bacteria on it, that survived for long periods of time, the risk of getting an infection was high for ones who gained injuries while either putting it down or using it to play on. When he put his hand on the terrain that was over the smoothed-over, natural terrain of the planet, he noted that it was soft... and sort of real in texture. On Earth, the wet-like feeling wouldn't be all that present in artificial terrain but, here on this planet, this type of terrain had a wet-like outer coating. While he didn't know what all fell between pre-dawn and dawn on the planet he was fast in thinking that this moisture was dew—other than rain, or ocean spray, what else could it be?

After standing, then moving on towards the area that he wanted to go towards, he saw several birds hopping and skipping along on both the artificial grass and on the natural, rocky terrain; they were pecking at the ground, looking for bugs, or seed... it looked like they weren't fazed by the artificial terrain that was in their environment and it looked like the artificial terrain wasn't fazed by them being in its environment. During the process of his checking out the grass's texture, he saw beetles, and a sort of ant-like insect; before getting up, he had seen something that looked like a crawling worm—this thing had around six to eight legs on it, but, judging by the way it moved, and by how "wet" it looked, he was sure that it wasn't a millipede or a centipede. He had picked this insect up; it had crawled about on his hand for a bit before being placed back on the ground. He had moved away from the area that he had stopped to look at after the worm was returned to where he had gotten it.

"Young Master Hazaar," a burly, four foot, ten inch Goblin, who's brown hair was all slicked back, said.

"Uh, hello." Hazaar said in return.

"Is everything well with you this morning, sir?" the Goblin, who's brown skin looked a bit too dry to him, and who's green eyes looked a bit too wondering, asked.

"Uhhh, yeah." Hazaar said.

He walked away from the Goblin; while the man had looked, and sounded, friendly he had still had a look in his eye that he hadn't much liked. His father, the last time that he and his brothers had been allowed to explore the backyard, had appointed several of his staff to keep watch of them and to, of course, keep an eye on the reporters and to keep them back; he figured that his father had done this again on this second attempt of their exploring this part of his property.

He figured that the Goblin was just being friendly, and polite in acknowledging him, but he still felt a bit awkward by his coming out of nowhere; up to the Goblin's voice being heard, he hadn't known that he had been around him. The Goblin that he had just spoken with he remembered—he had been one of the guys that had "helped" the old man in escorting him and Lhaklar from the room that they had been put in; they had been captured, and then taken to the ship's medical chamber, and the Goblins had been told to form a ring around them so they'd not be "tempted" into running away. While he couldn't remember what the guy's name was he did remember that he was very obedient to his father—or, at least he had been on that day when he and Lhaklar had been captured and then escorted to the ship's medical chamber for examinations, wound treating, and then physicals.

After going a short distance down the path, he reached a section of bushes that flanked the area of interest; he was just looking over the bushes, and getting his first sight of what the area looked like, when a big, blue bird, that had the longest tail that he had ever seen on a flying avian, flew out at him. He emitted a gasp while falling back then, after the skin of his elbow was scraped clean after he collided with the artificial terrain of the path, he yelled—the Goblin that he had spoken with rushed over at once. He helped him to his feet then he checked his elbow before speaking.

"Sir, are you okay?" the Goblin asked. "Should I call for your parents?"

"No, I'm fine." Hazaar replied before pulling his elbow up. He examined his elbow then he winced—with the exception of the skin being scraped away in some areas he had two deep scratches on that part of his body. The act of his getting scared by a bird angered him—he had no fear of birds; the bird that had come from the bush had been more scared of him than he had been of it yet he had still reacted in a girlie fashion to being surprised by its presence.

"Sir?" Hazaar shook his head; he had been so immersed in his scrape, and in his anger over being spooked by a bird, that he had lost track with reality. The Goblin was standing beside him; he was giving him a bit of a concerned look.

"I'm fine, just a scrape." Hazaar said. "I've had dozens—it's nothing to be worried about."

"You sure, sir?" the Goblin asked before pointing out, "Your elbow is bleeding in two places, sir."

"I'm fine—" Hazaar searched his brain for the Goblin's name; after a few seconds of searching, all he came up with was Apeelo. After coming up with that name, he said it. "Apeelo?"

"Abevo, sir." the Goblin bowed. "Abevo Speelin; younger brother of Kalach Speelin, who's one of your mother's most trusted confidants."

"What kind of bird was that?" Hazaar asked. "It looked like it had a right long, dark blue tail on it."

"Catali, sir. Your father's been having a time with them this planting season." Abevo replied.

"Why? Are they doing something in the area flanked by the bushes?" Hazaar asked.

"No sir. They don't mess with the garden, or with its produce." Abevo replied. "They come from a small island that's located north of here. The island was recently treated with a sort of spray that's used to bring in insects—the birds, when they rub themselves against the island's foliage, get the spray on themselves then they spread it around by migrating to other areas. They've got a nesting area around here, and their feeding grounds are very close to your father's place—wherever they fly, or land, they spread the spray that they've gained on themselves. The insects have been having a field day with the plants this planting season because of this—your father, about two to three times this year, has had to call in a specialist to spray everything down with a chemical that's suppose to keep the insects away."

"Why's he still having problems with the birds if the counter-spray's been used to send the bugs away?" Hazaar asked. He found himself as being very interested in the spray that the birds were flying in and in the insects that the spray was said to be attracting.

"They've become attracted to the area because of the insects—due to their spending continuous time on that island, they're always coming in with more of that spray, which is doing double-time in attracting the insects." Abevo replied. "Your father, just last afternoon, gave the order for everything in the garden to be pulled up. He's going to start over—there's a few in-door gardens in the mansion that he has plans to use now."

"Why hasn't he contacted the people responsible for spraying the island that the birds are coming from? Surely the birds are getting sick from the spray that they're getting on themselves." although he was glad to hear that his father had a Plan B with his garden he felt a bit sad over the fact that the birds were flying about with a spray on their bodies that could well harm their health.

"He has, sir. The island is said to be a sort of reserve—it has several species of turtle, frog, and bat on it that's wanted to be preserved for future generations." Abevo responded. "The spray was only used as a means to bring in the insects for them animals—the island, about a year ago, lost all of its insect life and no one knows the reason to why. The Catali isn't one of the island's natural fauna; it's cousin, the Satadi, is but it isn't. The people who run the island are also having a time with the Catali's."

"When did they start having this problem?" Hazaar asked.

"Just before the island's insect life disappeared." Abevo replied. "The Catali is from the far south. It's a tropical bird, and it's normally found in areas that're more tropical than this. For the last two years, the seasons down south of here have been a bit crazy so it's believed that they migrated up here after their normal environment became too cold for them."

That had happened on Earth too—the seasons turned in a certain place, which forced the local avian life into leaving for another area, where they found that everything that they had been lacking in their former area was in abundance and where they decided to just take up permanent residence in, which did more than put the new area's natural flora and fauna under strain because they were under threat by something that they weren't use or adapted to. The mass migration of April 2708 had caused a lot of trouble for both farmers and for most of the population on Earth—due to half of the world's tropical species of birds migrating, and carrying all sorts of diseases on them, a plague had started, which had wiped a lot of the world's human population out. As a way to eradicate the disease, and get things back to the way they were before everyone started getting sick, nearly ten species of tropical bird was wiped out—in the four years that followed the start of the plague, around thirty species of bird were caught in nets and then humanely euthanized as a way to stop the disease from spreading. The plague had no more been beat before a major climate shift occurred—certain deserts had been flooded out; certain areas that were known to be lush with grass, or tropical plants, became desert-like; the colder areas to the north became warmer while the warmer ones to the south became colder; and certain water sources either evaporated or overflowed their banks. In all, it had taken around six to eight years before the climate returned to normal—he and his family, due to having left Granny D's abode, and being out on their own, had experienced the fear-period of the plague and then the hardships of the climate change that followed the plague.

He still found it fascinating about how a single, small thing could cause one, or a whole bunch of species to migrate and he also found it fascinating about how one or more of them species of migrating animals could carry a disease but not show any signs of it—the birds that had carried the Avian flu on them had shown no adverse side effects of the disease; they had looked as healthy as could be, which was why it had taken the humans nearly four months to figure out that it was them that was bringing in the disease that was killing them.

After being told about the bird problem, and about the issue that it was causing for the people who lived in the area, and after thinking about the Avian flu of 2708, he shook his throbbing elbow; after shaking his elbow, he went to give the area beyond the rose bushes a once-over.

"Abevo said that this was a garden, and that it's been effected by the insects that the spray that the birds are bringing in... Looks fine to me." he thought after looking over the rose bushes.

At first glance, the garden, which was pretty big for the area that it was in, looked fine. The plants had green leaves on them, and the produce looked to be in better than fine order; he was about to turn and then ask Mr. Speelin if he was pulling his leg on what he had told him when something caught his eye. There was a break in the bushes near him; he went to it, then he entered the garden, then he grabbed the stalk of what he thought was a bean plant. After taking the stalk of the bean-looking plant in his hand, he grabbed one of the pods that the beans were in; after squeezing it, he grimaced—the substance, that came out of the pod, was black and it had an odor to it that was revolting.

After squeezing the pod, then getting the black substance on him, he started looking for something to wash his hand with—after finding a nearby water spigot, then rinsing his hands off, he had a repeat of what happened with the bean pod. The seemingly ripe tomato, that he took from one of the nearby tomato plants, was squeezed before being placed on the ground—he became something like a scientist in tearing it apart afterwards.

The area's produce, he was fast in figuring, looked ripe and delicious on the outside while, on the inside, it was mushy and unhealthy looking; after tearing the tomato apart, and getting the oozy substance all over the place in the process, he got up then went back to the spigot. He was fast in washing both of his hands after reaching it.

His father's garden had both flowers and produce in it; it ran for, what he believed, miles and it was evenly divided. Garden produce was on its left side while the right was full of flowers—yellow, red, purple, black and white, purple and white, red and black striped, and a sort of flower that looked like a Venus Fly Tray bobbed in the morning breeze. The carrots, potatoes, grapes, squash, lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, and cucumbers all looked ready for picking while the onion, celery, peas, beans, collard greens, and kale looked near-ready for picking. To the far back of the garden, he was able to see that yams, ginger, radishes, peppers, pumpkins, corn, and eggplant were growing. This large garden, which was full of just about anything that one ate on a daily basis, was disease-ridden; nothing that was in it was healthy to eat and, from what he had been told, it was slated to be destroyed... and all because of a stupid spray that the stupid birds had brought in.

The flowers, he saw after going towards them, then giving them a quick once-over, weren't fine either. Like with the produce, they were bad. They were discolored in the middle, and the stalks were very fragile. When he looked at the leaves of the plants that were near him, he saw that each were flooded with a weird assortment of insect—they were tiny, and beetle-like in appearance, and it looked like they were gnawing at both the leaves and the noticeable roots and stems of the plants that they were on. After noticing that the bugs were drilling into the noticeable root matter, and the stems of the plants that the roots went to, he put two-and-two together on what was going on—the spray had already caused the plants to put out in-edible matter while the bugs, with their habit of drilling into the plant, and causing the plant to lose its nutrients, were causing the plant to be unstable and not able to fight off what the spray was causing to happen to it.

"Good thing to have an inside garden then—while starting over is a hassle, this shit won't be happening to the produce now that it's to all be grown inside the house." he thought while leaving the disease-ridden garden.

After leaving the garden, he went towards the building that looked like a cave. Abevo, who had been watching him as he explored the garden, and as he demolished the bean pod and tomato, stayed behind; he was glad to note that he was staying where he was because he didn't like the idea of someone who was unrelated to him following or sticking his nose in on what he was doing. It was a short while before he reached the building—though nearly drenched in sweat, and though nearly ready to turn and then return to the mansion, he continued with what he wanted to do.

He thought that the building's thick, wooden door would be locked, so he made his initial pull be a weak one; with the door shooting to the side like it did, he had no choice but to gasp or to let gravity take over in bringing him down to the ground. After getting to his feet, he grabbed the door then opened it a bit more; once the door was open to his preference, he went in. The last thing that he saw, before entering the building, were the two Goblins; the two men were talking, and were coming in his direction, but they didn't seem alarmed or hurried so he figured that they were just coming in closer out of wanting to ensure that none of the reporters, who were still out on the ocean, in their boats, got the idea of rushing in to bother him.

"Lazeer, you are going to be so friggin' jealous!" Hazaar said after entering the building, then making a small flame appear in the center of the suction cup of his right index finger.

The building turned out to be a place where both boats and boating equipment was stored; the row of boats, that looked to run all the way to the building's far back wall, were on a pair of grooves, which had been rock-cut into the natural floor of the building. The two boats, that were at the start of the line, were long, sleek, and it looked like they had a single, but finely powered, engine on them. When he went to take a closer look at these boats, he saw that they had been given a wood-like paint job; after grabbing the side of one of the boats, then pulling himself up, so he could see what it looked like on the inside, he saw that it could seat up to three people and that the aisle that was between the three seats was short, but rather wide. He was fast in thinking that the boats were used more for fishing than for plain cruising—to him, they were just not built for speed.

While he was going down the aisle, that was between the two rows of boats, one of the two Goblins, that he had seen earlier, poked his head into the building; the man noted where he was, and what he was doing, then he removed his head from the building. He, in the time that the Goblin was checking him out, had looked at three other boats—two of them had looked like the standard rowboat while the other had looked like it had been built for speed. He was just gearing up to leave the building when he saw the normal and the inflatable sailboats, the three kayaks, the two surf boards, and the two jet skis; except for the neatly arranged boats and skis, the other equipment was against the left-side wall of the building. When he turned around, he saw that there was other equipment—oxygen tanks, flippers and wet-suits, breathing apparatuses and masks, oars, spare parts for engines, and the such—lining the building's other side.

Long before entering the building, and then taking in its wide assortment of stuff, he had perceived his father as being weird; while he still thought that his father was weird he now thought that he was also a thrill-seeker—why else would he have all of this equipment in this building if he wasn't one?While on his way to leaving the building, he saw that the man had parachutes—the type that one would use when they're parasailing—, and life vests, and several weapons that one would use when they're fishing for sharks or other large creatures that called the ocean home. Harpoons, guns that carried heavy ammo in them, coils of rope, all sorts of fishing poles, and the such was what he saw when he passed by the weaponry that was all lined up beside the parachutes and life vests. Before exiting the building, then closing the door behind him, he stopped to take in what was under the tarp, that was to the left of the two boats that were sitting just before the building's door. After drawing the tarp to the side, he smiled—more than two sets of water skis were lying under it.

"Can't see the old man using them, but can see me, or one of my brothers, using them." he thought while exiting the building. While closing the door to the building, he found himself as getting a small bit of assistance—one of the two Goblins grabbed the hand-folds in the door then heaved with him. After thanking the man for his assistance, he turned then went towards the stable, which he could barely see from where he was. While he went towards the stable, he wondered where Lazeer was and what he was doing.

While his brother was wondering about him, and was coming towards the building that he was in, he was taking in the sights and smells of the stable-like barn that he had entered several minutes ago. The stable was colored like any other stable found on Earth—red front and sides, and, he presumed, back; the boards that crossed the doors of the stable were white while the roof was gray. He had figured that he'd find a few animals in the structure—instead of finding between one and three stable-worthy animals he had found ten, and that was barely scratching the surface. The structure, on the outside, looked rather small and comfortable while, on the inside, it was rather spacious... but still rather comfortable. To him, the horses that he had seen in the first three stalls were far more superior than that of what was found on Earth.

The horses were sleek in build, and beautifully muscled; their bodies were very beautifully conformed to their necks, heads, and legs. Surprisingly, the horses that were in the stable had not an ounce of fat on them—even the mother horses, that had babies at their sides, were trim and fat-less.

The old foggy had been all agog with energy the last few days over his horses; some of his horses had been due to have their babies and he had been looking both after and out for them. From what he was able to see, there were five baby horses in the stable that looked anywhere between one and three days old.

When he looked in the stall that was to his immediate right, he saw the first of the five babies in the building. It had its mama's black coat but, unlike its mama, it had a semi-white mane and tail; this baby, which looked of the male gender, looked no more than two days old. The mother horse still had a lot of fire in her eyes so he was fast in checking her, and her baby, out and in moving on down the aisle.

The horse, that was in the stall that was beside the black one's own, was very pretty; her coat was a nice and shiny, bright gray color while her mane and tail were as white as could be. The yellow baby at her side looked no more than a day old—when the mother horse's ears became flattened, and when she took a menacing step towards him, he moved on.

The horse, that was in the stall that was beside the gray horse's own, had a very colorful pattern on her; the red in her coat was laced with white, which gave her a rust-like coloration. She had a white face and four tall stockings on her legs. Surprisingly, her three-day old baby was a solid, reddish brown color—with the mother horse being the color that she was, he had figured that she'd throw a much more vividly colored baby. Like with the other two horses, this one gave him the signal to move on, which he did.

When he came to the horse, that was in the stall that was beside the one that had the reddish-brown baby in it, he had to stop and stare in disbelief. The dished head of this horse was beautiful, and her body fit that head very well; her legs were nicely proportioned for her while her mane was a little sparse. Her tail stretched to the straw-covered floor of her stall. The bright red coat of the horse made him think of fire. Unlike the other horses in the stable, this one was fat—it was very evident that she was pregnant. As if to emphasize this, she tossed her fine head then turned it; she gave her belly a nip right when he placed his hands on the door of her stall. He had only just noticed that the nameplate on the door said Afafika when she came at him—her elegant neck arched towards him, and her feet seemed to no more touch the floor of her area before being picked up again; he was only barely able to move himself out of harms way before she stuck her head out from her stall. If he had remained where he was for a mere second longer, she would of taken a bite from him.

The horse's nostrils were flared; she glared at him, persecuting him for encroaching on her space during her time in needing to be left alone, for a second or two before emitting a sort of squeal. After squealing, she pulled her head back into her stall then moved to the way back of her area. She had only just reached the far back of her stall when a Goblin ran over to his side.

"Did she get you, sir?" the Goblin asked. Lazeer jumped, then looked down, then moved away from the man; he never answered his question, which seemed to unnerve the man. "Young Master Lazeer!"

He went down the aisle; he was still rather nervous around the Goblins, and didn't really have a desire to have one of them fussing or fretting over him for some phantom injury that he may or may not have.

While going down the aisle, he looked in the other stalls that he came by. He saw other pregnant horses—ones that had their tails wrapped, or that's tails were loose; ones that looked plain uncomfortable; ones that looked fine; and ones that were either plain ornery or sweet in demeanor—before coming to a stop. Most of the horses that he had seen were solid in color—either black, gray, orange, yellow, or brown—while the one that he was now looking at wasn't. There was an open space between the stalls that contained the female animals; he was fast in coming under the assumption that the male animals were in the part of the stable that he was now in.

The first stall that he looked into housed a lanky, but finely formed, copper-colored horse; at first glance, he looked solid-colored then, after he gave him a second, and much longer, look, he saw that he had all sorts of white and dark spots on his flanks and withers. The nameplate, that was on the stall's door, said that the horse's name was Tritor—he couldn't find a better fitting name for such a finely made animal.

The horse that was in the next stall was of equal beauty; except for his bluish-black coat, he was a near exact replica of Tritor. The nameplate on the door of this horse's stall said Breklor. The young horse, that was in the stall that was beside Breklor's, was a rather pretty one; except for the fading black markings, that were present on his neck, shoulders, and rump, his coat was nearly white in color. This horse, who had a much more immature body on him, which gave him the idea that he was younger than Breklor and Tritor, who looked to be full-grown animals, also had ice-blue eyes, which, he thought, made him look even more remarkable.

He was just looking into the stall that housed the horse that his sister had based one of her models on when he saw Hazaar coming into the stable.

"Looking for a horse wife now?" Hazaar asked after reaching his younger brother's side.

"Yuck, no! I'm not one of them Mexican dancers that do it with burros." Lazeer made a face.

"Nice horse," Hazaar said after looking into the stall that had a nicely muscled, flea-bitten gray stallion, that had a creamy mane and tail, in it. He glanced at the nameplate, that said Rhoosod, for only a second before speaking again. "Looks like an Arabian, or like one of them Thoroughbred racehorses that're raced on Earth."

"Guess so." Lazeer, who knew nothing about horses, said.

"I'm planning on finding a hiding place to have a smoke in, you coming with or—" Hazaar said after leaning in close.

"Sure," Lazeer said. He turned then followed his brother down the aisle. "Take it that you have a magazine hidden on you?"

"When have you known me to not have one stuffed in my shirt?" Hazaar winked one of his eyes.

They knew the second that they were out of the stable that their plan in looking at a magazine while having a smoke wasn't going to happen—their mother was standing on the porch; she looked to be talking to someone who looked, yet didn't look like, Bile. Their father was standing by the bottom step of the porch; standing around him, talking him up a storm, were three beings that looked rather young. They took a single step towards the happenings of what was going on on the porch when they noticed that someone who looked like their father was standing off by the tree that was closest to the porch.

Lazeer stopped right after noticing the people either on or near the porch; he noticed that his grandparents were in the yard, and that they had taken their kids a distance from the porch, and he also noticed that Eshal had gone with them. He wondered for all of two seconds where his grandparents had come from before latching onto the idea of their coming outside during his time in being in the stable.

Hazaar, after seeing the happenings of what was going on on the porch, decided to head off in the direction that he had seen his two older brothers go off in. After starting on his way, and after checking to see if Lazeer was following him, he glanced in the direction of the ones that were on the porch. After seeing that they were busy in speaking among themselves, he turned his head then got busy in leading his brother, who was following him a bit too closely, to where he wanted them to go. Whether it was fate or destiny he didn't know but, once he and Lazeer had reached the halfway mark of the yard, their father started yelling for them to come to him.

Hazaar stopped; he sighed over having his plans be ruined, and in over being seen, then he turned. He, with Lazeer following at his backside, went towards the one who had called for him. He had only just reached within shouting distance of his father when his heel-clipping brother decided to stop following him; Lazeer put a halt in going forward while he continued to go forward. Only after seeing who it was that his mother was talking to, and after going five feet from his brother, did he decide to stop.

"What is he wearing!"

Hazaar glared at the one who had spoken; with the exception of what the guy was wearing, he looked to be in or around the same age that he and Lazeer were. To him, the guy wasn't wearing what a normal teenager would—the brown t-shirt, that was tucked into a pair of plain brown pants, and the pair of brown socks and shoes, that he was wearing were very normal for one of his age to wear; all of what the guy was wearing was old... it definitely didn't look fitting for one who was a teenager.

The pants went down to only his knees; the ends of these pants, which were either a black or a very dark blue color, were tied at the knee by what-looked-to-be garter ties. The white, button down, long sleeve shirt had a small resemblance to the one that was worn by his father—er, in regards to the lace-like cuffs, that was; the buttons looked to of been made out of genuine gold, which was vastly different in regards to the buttons that were on his father's shirt. The slacks, that came down from the ends of the guy's pant legs, were crisp and white; not a wrinkle could be seen in them, which he thought was weird—but the fact that he was wearing such attire with his outfit was even weirder. What was the guy trying to be... a girl? The last he had heard, only girls wore slacks. The shoes that were on the kid's feet were black; the buckle, that was on their sides, was silver and quite shiny. The frill-like, lace cravat tie, that was around the guy's neck, made his outfit look even more outrageous for him.

The kid had elf-like ears on his head; he had only to look at him to know that he was bi-colored—the left side of his head, and, he presumed, body, was dark red while the other side of his head, and body, was silver. The eyes that were in the kid's face were a glowing yellow color; the pupils, that were in their centers, were green. Not counting the ten-inch long horns, that were a dark red color, and that had three twists to them, the kid was six feet tall; he had a lean body build that looked quite lacking in muscle.

"Same question to you." Hazaar said back.

"Good clothes that my father wore when he was my age," the kid replied. "You, in contrast to both him and me, are wearing what one from the streets would wear."

"Why does the one in the back have a glass over one of his eyes and not both, Tazzy?"

All it took was for him to look at her; he knew right then and there who she was after that first look was done.

She was the exact same one who had said that he was "cute" during the meal that he and Lhaklar had joined after they had been caught in October; her name was UevaaVile Saibi Surfeit—technically, she was his and his full-brothers' aunt... and, technically, she was also his father's baby sister.

She was a tall, five foot, nine inches; her hair, which was a dark auburn color, and which looked to flow down to the middle of her back, was parted down the middle a little too evenly. Like with the other kid, who, for his life, he couldn't place a name to, she was bi-colored—the left side of her head was silver while the other side of her head was dark yellow; he had only to look at her hands to know that the sides of her body matched the colors of her bi-colored head perfectly. There were no viewable ears on her head at all; her eyes were a glowing blue color—the pupils, that were in their centers, were yellow.

She was wearing a long sleeve, blue dress; the white slacks, that ran into a pair of blue heels, that had bows on their sides, matched her and her gender well. No makeup was present on her face; as far as he could tell, she had no jewelry on herself.

"He—"

"—has the same thing that you inherited from your mother, doesn't he Boy?"

A rocket scientist wasn't needed to tell him who it was that had interrupted his father—unlike the horned guy, he knew what his name was.

The guy's name was DuruVile Bolushi Surfeit; he was his grandfather and he was also the only son of ShaamVile Kondee Surfeit and Egla Ifica Shaar. The man had a deep, booming voice—it was strong enough to attract the attention of anyone who was clear across the room from him. He was six foot, three; no hint of age was present on his body, or on his face, for that matter. His face was hard, and looked rather experienced—the experience that was in his face was also prominent in his eyes, which were a glowing green color, and which had small, black pupils in their centers. Like Uevaa, and the still-unnamed kid, he was bi-colored—the left side of his head, and, he presumed, body, was silver while the other side of his head, and body, was black. The pair of elongated ears, that ran the full length of his shoulders, were silver in color; they had black, Tiger-like stripes on them. The fingernails, that were coming from the ends of the man's fingers, were long and black in color; they looked to of been filed to a nicely sharp point.

He was wearing a black, aristocratic shirt that had a layered collar-line on it; the sleeves to the shirt were long while the buttons that went down its front were silver. The black pants, that were worn over the man's bottom half, went to just his knees; like with the unnamed kid's pants, they were tied at the knee by what-looked-to-be garter ties. The pair of white slacks, that were coming down from the pants' ends, were too crisp and clean while the pair of black leather shoes, that looked to have scalloped edges on them, were a little distressed and rugged in appearance.

For the tiniest fraction of a second, he was mesmerized by the adornment that was hanging from the man's left elongated ear—a single, gold chain, from which a silver ball was at the end of, glistened rather brilliantly in the morning rays that were coming from the three spheres.

After becoming near-mesmerized by the ear adornment, he nearly slapped himself; here he was, asking why the man looked like his older, half-brother when the answer was as plain as the reflection that shown from a mirror. The man looked so much like Bile because he was related to him—while the man was his, Lhaklar's, and Lazeer's grandfather he was Bile's great-grandfather.

He had no more realized this before the man was noticed as coming towards him; after noticing that the man was coming towards him, and his brother, who was still standing behind him, he hissed. His grandfather stopped on a dime then gave him a long, serious look.

"I don't think an introduction on who I am is need for Hazaar. We've already met." the man said. "Looks like he still has that defiant streak in him. And I see that you've done nothing with his hair."

"What the hell is wrong with my hair?" Hazaar snapped.

"He takes care of it. I see no reason to have it removed from his body." TazirVile said.

"It makes him _look_ ridiculous!" DuruVile said in a strained fashion. His glowing, green eyes flashed with a tinge of anger before regaining their former curious, yet calm, appearance.

"So does y—"

"Hazaar! His hair is perfectly fine; it doesn't make him look ridiculous, and he takes very good care of it." Angel said while stepping down from the porch. She strode over to DuruVile then she stood beside him. "And, yes, Lazeer has P.S.E. A mind form of it, and in his left eye only."

"The younger one in the back I have yet to see," DuruVile said while walking by Hazaar. He went straight for Lazeer, who was fast in taking two steps from him.

"From my standpoint, both of them look to have a bit of defiance in them." the woman, who was standing against the tree, said. "It looks like Angel has passed that gene on well."

While she wasn't related to him, and his full-brothers, she was related to his mother, and to Bile; to look at her, it'd be quite easy to figure that she was more related to their mother than to Bile, though.

Cyla Dybla, the woman who his grandfather had married after divorcing his first wife, and the woman who he had left after noticing the woman who would birth his father, and the woman who he would remarry sometime down the road, was quite tall—her legs was what gave her most of her height, which was six feet; her skin was light blue in color while her hair was mostly red and wavy. The two strands of hair, that were close to her forehead, were purple—due to their not looking natural, he was fast in thinking that they had been dyed that color. She had beady blue eyes; the nose that she had was barely noticeable. To him, she looked a little overloaded with makeup—she had red eye-shadow on her eyelids, and red lipstick on her lips, and medium-pink blush on her cheeks. For some reason, he got the idea that she was also wearing mascara around her eyes—there was a line around her eyes that didn't look natural to him.

The woman was wearing a black gown; he thought that the red, flame-like designs, that were on the dress's front, contrasted well with that color. Due to the dress's belled cuffs being turned inside out, he was able to see that the interior also had that same design on it. For some reason, the dress had a hood on the back of its collar. Due to the dress's length, he wasn't able to see what type of shoes she was wearing.

When he looked at the woman's hands, he saw that each of her nails had been painted a red color; the ring finger of her left hand had a 14kt Celtic knotted ring, that had a red diamond in its center, on it. With the exception of the ring, she was wearing no jewelry.

He was just turning to take in the one that was standing just behind his father when he heard a sound behind him; he turned, then gasped, then started towards his brother—while he had been checking Cyla Dybla out, his grandfather had lunged at, and then grabbed, his brother.

"Hold still, Boy!" his grandfather barked. Lazeer, he saw, was putting up a fuss; he was trying to pull himself away from the man who had him in his clutches.

"Let him go!" Hazaar exclaimed. He had no more gone forward, to help his brother in getting away from the man, when his mother ran past him.

After hearing the man's voice, then seeing him coming out on the porch, she had gone to him to see if she could speak some rational sense into him on his not laying a harmful hand on her sons; instead of being assured over his behaving himself, and in his not placing wrong hand on her children, she had gotten a half-there promise from him on what she had spoken to him about. To her, the half-promise wasn't enough—her trust in him was low thanks to that half-promise being given; she was planning on keeping him, his wife, and their children in her sights now, thanks to that half-promise being given.

Her great-grandfather had her youngest son in what she called a "vice grip"—a grip that was tight, and a grip that the man used when he was trying to gain control of someone. Lazeer, after pulling back a bunch of times, swung his fist at the man who had him by the arm; when his punch didn't do the trick, he kicked out. She only barely made it before the man who had her child became nasty—she tore her great-grandfather's hand from her son, then she pushed her son to being behind her, then she stood between them.

Hazaar, she saw, took two steps towards her before stopping; her thirdborn son looked at her, then he looked behind him, then he looked at her again. She had only to look at her son to know that he didn't like what was going on—for her, and, she guessed, Lazeer, the feeling was mutual.

"You need to get these two a better wardrobe, Tazir." DuruVile said after looking Lazeer up and down. "I agree with what my son said. These two are dressed like gutter people—that's not appropriate for one of Surfeit blood, Boy."

"My sons have a very unique style to them." Angel said. "Their dress sense is perfectly fine."

"You must be joking," DuruVile said. After saying this, he started pointing at what Lazeer was wearing. "His pants are badly ripped; the hems are torn to bits; and he has two tears in his shirt. Tazir, tell me that you don't approve of this."

"The thought of tossing the clothing that was ripped, or that had holes it in, did cross my mind." TazirVile confided. "I decided against it—it's their style; I'm sure they'll grow out of it one day."

"You need to get to work on this one," DuruVile turned around; he gestured at Hazaar for a small second before dropping his hand. "As you can see, Angel, Selik and Lazeer are both taller than he is. He might have a stronger body but, in regards to my youngest son, he's stunted for his age."

"Which one is Selik?" Angel asked. Hazaar and Lazeer paid special attention to what was said next as even they wanted to know who Selik was.

"Selik, step forward Boy!" Hazaar nodded his head after the kid, who had the dark red, spiraling horns on his head, stepped forward. "He's nine years older than Lazeer."

"Hazaar isn't stunted for his age," Angel said. She, like Hazaar, had nodded her head after seeing Selik step forward. "He's not unhealthy either."

"He's five foot, eleven inches tall, Girl. That is—"

"Hazaar's still growing." Angel said before gesturing for Hazaar to come to her. After her two, younger sons were at her side, she turned then said, "Why don't you two go find Bile and Lhaklar."

"Yes, do please!" DuruVile said excitedly. "When you get back, you shall have some time to interact with my three children—one, of whom, your brothers know well from their childhood years."

The past fifteen minutes had been difficult for him; all of what he had experienced last night had been told—in a lot of ways, he was glad that it was out and in the open. It felt like a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and from his mind and chest. Thanks to his confiding in Lhaklar about what occurred last night, he almost felt like he could fly.

At the start of his telling his brother the events of last night, he had spoken in a haunted fashion; he had left off on what he had said periodically to half-emphasize his plan in wanting to leave Moas for Earth and in his wanting to take his family with him when he decided to initiate the move—this crazy talk had scared Lhaklar as much as it had him. Thanks to Lhaklar's continuous "abuse", his cheeks felt raw and tingly—in a lot of ways, he owed Lhaklar his thanks for slapping him because his slaps had caused him to return to reality and to go on with the tale of what happened during the hours that he should of been sleeping and experiencing good dreams.

He had spilled, and Lhaklar had listened; some advice, and some abuse, had been given before more listening was done. His brother had also given him some comfort when he had been in need of it—as strange as it seemed, he had relished in them given hugs, and in the words that had spewed from Lhaklar's mouth.

It seemed that Lhaklar was the only one to notice that he had been off that morning; ma had been preoccupied with talking to grandma Ashaklar, and Hazaar and Lazeer had been busy with their breakfasts, and the old man had either been speaking with his stepfather, or with one of his siblings, or he had been eating his breakfast—with everyone being preoccupied in doing something, his then-present mood had been overlooked. Like with earlier, he didn't see bad in this—they hadn't known, which was as good of an excuse as any.

During his telling of the tale of what happened last night, he had smoked two joints and then two of his brother's cigarettes—he had been so nervous about telling the disturbing tale of what happened last night that he had over-done his limit in smoking, which was both hilarious and a bit concerning. Due to how well he trusted his brother, he hadn't put in much of a sweat or put into heavy thought about telling him what he had experienced—he had just dived into the tale and Lhaklar, his sometimes over-mature brother, had listened; he owed him a lot of thanks for setting him straight and for listening to him.

"It started almost immediately after I went to bed—once my head was on the pillow, and once my eyes were shut, I started dreaming. Every time I woke up, then went back to sleep, it'd return—but, it'd be clearer, and more real-like, than the previous image that was played." he had said. "The apartment that we lived in, along with the ones that are to its left and right, went up in a fiery green explosion of flames and smoke. A great gush of wind blew after the apartment went, then everything grew foggy before clearing up... man! Everything for miles was gone!"

"The apartment, and the neighborhood that it was in, had a lot of memories for all of us, so it would be shocking to see it go up and then out like that." Lhaklar had said.

"Before I woke up," he had continued. "I saw a warped shadow walking away from the flaming mess that was our old apartment. It kept coming closer, and it got clearer the closer it got to... well, I guess me, as I can't explain how or why it kept getting closer. Anyways, before I woke up, this shadow went from being very warped to steady—it had taken on the shape of one of the male gender right before I shot up in bed."

He had been scared out of his wits end! Along with being covered in sweat, and having his eyes dart from one section of his room to the other, he had noticed that he had been breathing heavily—it had been like he had been running almost nonstop for miles, which was funny because he knew that he hadn't done so. After sitting in bed for a while, he had gotten up; a visit to his bedroom's adjacent bathroom had been done, some water had been thrown into his face, he had looked at his reflection in the mirror, and he had done some pacing before returning to bed. After his head was returned to the pillow, and after his eyes were shut, the dream continued.

The shadow-person had walked down the street; except for the jean bag, that had been slung over one of his shoulders, he hadn't been able to see anything of him—the person had been cloaked from head to foot in the darkest of shadows that he had ever seen. The shadow-person had exited the shield that was around Green River, Wyoming then he had gone straight for Expedition Island, where he had made up a sort of half-camp that had consisted of a white sheet, that he had half-so draped over a branch of a tree, and a fire. The man had gone to the river, he had caught himself a small, brown fish, then he had returned to his camp—this part of the dream, while not being as clear as the one that followed it, had been clear enough for him; he had seen the man jab the end of a stick into the fish, then drape the fish over the fire, then pull it out of the fire. That damn fish had been burned to a near crisp and he had been able to see it!

He had woke up right after seeing the shadow-person rip a chunk from the fish—as strange as it sounded, he had been able to note that the man had a gnarly set of both yellow and slightly crooked teeth just before waking up.

"I was much like the first time when I woke up—drenched in sweat, breathing heavy, my eyes darting from one part of my room to the next... only difference is that, when I woke up, I was gripped in a fear for you guys. I got up from bed, then I left my room, then I checked on each and every one of you—I even checked on Eshal, and on ma and dad, Lhakie. That was how scared I was!"

Everyone had been fine so, he had gone back to bed; unlike the first and second time, where he had fallen asleep right away, he had kept himself awake for thirty minutes. After falling asleep, the dream had commenced from right where it had previously left off.

The shadow-person had been speaking during the third, and last, part of the dream; he had been sitting by the river at the time, and he hadn't looked a bit happy. His jean bag had been nearby—leaning against the trunk of a tree; from what he had been able to see, the half-so camp, that had been present in the previous section of the dream that he had experienced, had been taken down. The man had been staring at the river; he had stared and stared for the longest of time before saying _I knew that nothing good could ever happen to me; I should of known that they'd abandon me too_. The man had said several things, but that had been the stick-out thing that he had said—his nasally low voice, that was either cracking because of its hysteria or because of the person's youth, had been so grief and anger filled... he still couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy, which was funny because he neither knew who he was or if he even existed.

"The guy stood up, then he shot his hand out; a sort of exotic fire, that was green on the interior, but orange on the exterior, came out of his hand then was flung towards the nearby bushes. Them bushes went pop, then dropped to being mere ashes in seconds, Lhakie! The man torched that whole, entire island with that exotic fire all while saying that 'he shouldn't of trusted them', and that 'he shouldn't of let himself get to thinking that things were going to turn around for him because they never did'."

The shadow-person had had an emotional moment after saying that; he had turned his strange power towards the river after the island was incinerated—the water had bubbled; fish had either been cooked where they swam or had floated to the surface, dead as can be; and any and all animals that were around dropped to their side. The shadow-person, after creating all of this chaos, had teleported out of the area—right after disappearing, the Green River Fire Department came in. They had only just started trying to put out the flames, that were happening on the island, when the military swooped in.

His eyes were opened right after the General leading the military said that everyone in Green River, Wyoming needed to evacuated the area and quickly.

Instead of going back to sleep, he had gotten up; he had gotten dressed, had used the toilet, then had decided to throw on some music. He had barely been able to initiate the Silencer spell before the starting song on Ozzy Osbourne's The Ultimate Sin started playing. In all, he might of had three hours of non-dream occurring sleep last night—which was why he looked a bit tired right now.

"You know it was nothing more than a silly, stupid dream, right? With all that's happened over the last few months, I'm surprised that all of us haven't been screaming ourselves awake—dreams can't hurt you, and they don't become true after you speak of them, so don't worry about it. Just forget about it. Live your life, and be glad that last night won't be happening again, and that what you dreamed won't hurt you or be coming true." Lhaklar had said after he had spoken of what he had dreamed.

Lhaklar had said that dreams were a very misunderstood phenomenon; while sometimes annoying, they did have their benefits and, on certain occasions, their disadvantages. The good dreams were what people used to escape reality while the bad ones... well, those were the ones that people didn't want to have. Like his brother had said, he wouldn't be experiencing another continuous dream, or a dream that was so clear, like that of what he had experienced last night again.

After getting this piece of advice, and comforting words, he had calmed down; the final cigarette that he had been smoking had been finished, then he had gotten up, then he had held his hand out for Lhaklar. He had helped his brother to his feet then he had "escorted" him from the area that they had taken to sit and talk and smoke in. At the moment, they were headed back to the main portion of the backyard—to the section that they'd be able to be seen in more readily and to the section where their little brothers had been seen in last.

"Whoa now! It looks like Tweedle Dee, with a rattail sticking out from the back of his head, and Tweedle Dum, with a horizontal mohawk, are coming straight for us." he said after seeing his two, younger brothers running towards him and Lhaklar.

Lhaklar, despite his still hurting foot, readied himself for the two of them; when they got to them, he grabbed Lazeer then held him steady. He, on the other hand, grabbed Hazaar then started fanning him with his hand.

"Whoa there, slow it up before you have a heart attack." Bile said while fanning his brother. He fanned his brother for a few more seconds before releasing him. "I don't think you can come anywhere near to breaking any of the records that I set during my school days, so save your lungs, and your legs."

"Why would I try to break a record that my own brother made?" Hazaar asked after moving away from his brother.

"Good question, one of which I'm not very concerned about right now." Bile smiled wickedly. "I'm about to make a new one now."

Bile lunged for his brother; even though Hazaar tried to get away from him, he grabbed and then pulled him in close. While his brother struggled to get away from him, he gave him a noogie.

"Let me go, Bile!"

"Oh shit, you made me lose count." Bile said after Hazaar had gotten away from him. "I'll have to start all over again—what was my last record, Lhaklar?"

"Fifteen, I think. You got up to ten on that last one." Lhaklar replied.

"Enjoy all of that head-love, Hazie!" Lazeer was laughing so hard that his sides were hurting him. Bile grabbed Hazaar again; after pulling him in close, then positioning him so that he'd not be able to hurt him, he started giving him another helping of noogies.

"When was the last time that you had a little head-love, Lazeer?" before Lazeer could duck, and then run away, Lhaklar rushed in. He grabbed him by the arm then he pulled him in tight; his head was placed under the crook of his brother's arm right before his own brand of noogies were received.

"I broke my record—twenty-five noogies in one sitting!" Bile sang right after Hazaar broke free of him. He had just said this when Lazeer was "released" of his brother's restraint. "What shall we do next to our pestersome little brothers?"

"Can't give 'em wet willies—they have no ears on the outside of their heads." Lhaklar said. "There's no toilet around, so we can't give them a swirlie."

"You wet end!" Hazaar exclaimed. He and Lazeer moved a few steps away from their brothers.

"I know!" Bile gave his fingers a snap. "Best start running because we're coming for the backs of your underwear."

"Oh yeah!" Lhaklar laughed evilly.

There was no way in hell that they were going to let their brothers grab the back of their underwear; after hearing the threat of their receiving a wedgie, and after seeing their brothers as coming towards them, they turned tail then ran.

Lazeer, who was wearing a black mesh shirt, that had a slight tear in the stomach area, but that had a severe tear in the side, and a pair of black jeans, that had a series of tears all down their legs, and that were pretty much missing their hems, led the way for a while. The pair of black boots, that had a single, gold chain wrapped around their tops, that he was wearing on his feet, caused clots of artificial grass to fly as he dug in for more speed. He was running so fast that his knees were nearly coming in contact with his chest; the chains on his boots clicked and clanged as he ran—he perceived these sounds as cheering, which gave him an incentive to run faster.

When he reached the bushes, that he, and Hazaar, had passed through while looking for Bile and Lhaklar, he found himself as being passed. Hazaar shot past him like a rocket; he cheered his brother on then he went silent after seeing that Bile was hot on his heels.

He and Hazaar managed to stay ahead of their brothers until just after going past the bushes; Bile leaped at Hazaar, then tackled him to the ground, then positioned him. Even though Lhaklar had a bum foot, he was able to keep up with him—he found himself as being knocked from his feet right after Hazaar was tackled.

Bile and Lhaklar had just positioned their brothers for their wedgies when, from the corner of their eyes, they saw someone as coming towards them. Working fast, they gave the drawers, that they were aiming for, a tug then stood up. They got out of the way of their brothers, who were now flopping, rolling, and reaching back to relieve the pressure that their assaulted underpants were giving them.

"Bile! Lhaklar! What in the Universe—" Angel exclaimed after seeing what her two, older sons had done to their younger brothers. While she wanted to laugh she also wanted to retain an adult-like mood.

"Hello, ma. You look exceptionally beautiful this morning." Bile said. He smiled widely; due to how wide his smile was, she was able to see the set of fangs that he had on his top and lower jaws.

"You know what kind of damage you can do by... by doing that to your brothers?" Angel asked her two, older sons.

"Ooohh, we didn't pull their boy panties up but so far. They'll be fine." Lhaklar said. He waved his hand to the side as if what he and his brother had done to Hazaar and Lazeer was nothing.

"Normally, I'd allow for this in a light way but—"

"You allow for your sons to play like a typical street child, Girl?"

While Lhaklar had seen his grandfather, and had also had a few conversations with him during the meal that he and Hazaar had attended after they had been captured in October, Bile hadn't seen the man in the flesh; he remembered him from his childhood days, and he remembered the photograph, that the guy's name had been placed on the back of, but he hadn't seen him recently. His first, initial, thought on the man wasn't a good one.

The man, who was both his and his mother's great-grandfather, started berating his mother on how she allowed them to act around one another; it didn't take him long before he started berating her on his and Lazeer's dress-sense. If the man had been his actual father, and not just a relative of his actual father's, he wouldn't of wasted any time in slugging a fist at him—the man, when he had been a kid, had been rather mean and controlling... it looked like he was still them things. He remembered a time when his mother had been getting ready to get into the pool, that was still standing in Carman, Manitoba, Canada; just about everyone had gasped after seeing the vast scarring that was on her back—while most of the scarring had come from his father and grandfather, some of it had also been placed on her by the very one who was now getting on her for her mothering skills. The deep, dark red scar, that was half on the back of her shoulders, and half in the middle of her back, had been put on her by Mr. DuruVile Bolushi Surfeit—the tale said that the man had put a large ice block on her back; ma claimed that he had only put the ice block on her in an attempt to get her to respect him.

"Uh-oh," Angel thought.

After seeing that her son had gone from being playful to looking plain pissed off, and ready for a fight, she stopped her conversation with her great-grandfather. Moving as quickly as she could, she stepped between her son and DuruVile quickly. Her great-grandfather gave her a look before turning his gaze to her son, who still looked rather angry in the face.

"You need to get your oldest child under control and fast, Girl." DuruVile said in a low, throaty growl. "I will be here for a while, and you know me—I will not take disrespect or—"

"Leave the disciplining of my children to me, granpappy." Angel said.

"I only need to look at your two older boys to see that they, too, have that same defiance in them." DuruVile said. After saying this, he turned then started away. He had only just started towards his family, who looked to be waiting for him, when he stopped and then turned around. "You watch them boys of yours, Girl. They harm my kids any and there will be a problem between me and them."


	18. Chapter 18

"Well I'll be..." Kohl exclaimed.

"Who's that ugly devil!" Zshon smiled.

"It's about damn time that you returned!" Kalach Speelin, a burly, five foot, two inch Goblin, who had brown skin, a rather large nose, and a very wrinkled brow, said after Homsi Modulavich entered the employee lounge.

"Kohl, Zshon, Kalach." Homsi acknowledged his three co-workers. Even though he was wearing his usual—a brown tuxedo and shoes—the shirt that was under the vest of his tuxedo wasn't his usual. It was mustard yellow, and its front was flanked by a ruffle that was black embroidered; if not for his wife's three-day long insistence, he would of worn a plain white shirt that day. "How's everything here?"

"Not as pleasant as it was a few days ago." Kalach answered before his co-workers could. "Mr. and Mrs. Ubalki, and their family, and our employer's sister showed up for their visit on the fourteenth; Mistress Angel, and her sons, fared well with them. Master Tazir's father, and his wife and kids, arrived for their stay two days ago."

"Wh... I thought that the Ubalki's, and Miss. Surfeit, were to come for their visit before everyone else—"

"A mistake happened—Master Tazir forgot to put the invitations that he put on his desk away; Losal, who thought that they were desired to be put in the mail, took them up then mailed them out. Been nearly a week since they were sent out." Kalach was fast in relaying. "Young Master Bile has returned to being unsettled—neither he nor Duru are getting along. Young Master Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer have also returned to being unsettled—along with having issues with Duru, they're also having problems with his kids."

"I'm in no way surprised," Homsi said. He had been hoping to return to work to find that everyone in his employer's family was settled in; it looked like the opposite was what was going on. "How bad is it?"

He could answer that question with a short, simple sentence: it was bad! He was still shaking his head at what happened after Duru and his wife, and their children, arrived for their visit.

Duru and his wife, after doing a simple and light "introduction", had gone inside to put all of what they had brought along in their room; right after they were seen as going inside, their kids had seen about causing the Young Masters grief. Selik, after making sure that his parents weren't able to see him or his actions, had sauntered over to where Hazaar and Lazeer were—the two had been pushed, and then shoved, for a bit before turning to defend themselves. Uevaa, while not becoming involved in the bullying, had urged her brother to add "some oomph" into what he was doing; she had only stopped doing this after Young Master Lazeer turned and then unleashed a fist in her brother's direction, and after Young Master Hazaar lunged at and then came very close to catching her brother's jaw. With Hazaar and Lazeer looking to be "no fun", Selik had gone over to see about bullying Phaggo; Gaajah, during the time that Phaggo was being bullied, had been trying to resume his old childhood fetish in bullying Hazaar's and Lazeer's brothers.

Gaajah, without Baruk being around to "give his bullying more emphasis", had found himself as being very out-done by the ones that he had taken to bully. Young Master Bile had taken the teasing, and his shirt being grabbed and then pulled, in stride for a few minutes before giving the guy his cue on moving on—the glare that the youngster had given to the bully was the meanest glare that he had ever seen; Gaajah had heeded that given glare's advice by moving on... but, sadly, instead of moving on to another part of the yard, or mellowing down to being a non-bully, he had just moved on to bully Lhaklar.

Lhaklar had taken two to three shoves before voicing his annoyance in Gaajah's actions towards him; the bully, after hearing the voiced annoyance, and after being told to quit it, had grabbed and then de-tucked Lhaklar's shirt before moving on to pushing and shoving him again. Young Master Lhaklar had just made the move to move away from the bully when the bully noticed that he was limping—instead of leaving the boy be, and instead of going off to find something else to become involved in, he had taken it upon himself to stomp on the foot that was causing the one that he was bullying grief. Young Master Lhaklar had surprised the bully by not only wheeling on him but by also swinging his fist at him right after having his foot stomped on; Gaajah, the bully who took orders from his buddy Baruk, but who's buddy wasn't here yet, had yelled before jumping back—the shock, that had covered his face, had been comical while his act of moving off while mumbling and rubbing his chin had been even more comical. Instead of finding the ones that he use to bully being push-overs, and instead of finding himself as being on top of them, he had found himself as being bested.

Gaajah's chin had turned colors within thirty to thirty-five minutes; Cyla, after finishing the chore of unpacking her things, had flipped after seeing her son as wielding a badly bruised chin. She had squealed, and then demanded that Young Master Lhaklar be punished for hurting her "precious, innocent baby". Mistress Angel and Master Tazir, who had been present during the bullying, but who had stayed back—his employer had looked concerned, and had taken a few steps towards Gaajah and Selik, while his wife had simply stood and watched as her children defended themselves—, had vouched for their son on the events that occurred for the boy's chin to be bruised. Duru, after hearing what happened, had also demanded that Lhaklar be disciplined—he had actually gone to do this himself after seeing Lhaklar's parents as not doing anything; Mistress Angel had received two slaps to the face after standing before him, barring his path to her son, which had done wonders in pissing her oldest son off. Young Master Bile, after lunging forward, had delivered two punches to the man who's hand had assaulted his mother's face—he, his brother, and his co-workers were all on the boy's side; if their mother had been slapped after taking up a position in protecting one of them, they would of reacted similarly too.

Young Master Bile had been in such a frenzy after punching Duru that his mother had made the decision to take him, and his brothers, inside and then to their rooms; it had been around two hours before the five were seen again.

"And, at the time that they were calm, something happened to make them get anxious." he was saying to his co-worker, who looked to be very interested in what he was telling him.

Instead of being like the Ubalki's in taking things nice and slow, Duru and his wife had made the decision to jump right into the thick of things with the Young Masters; almost immediately after the four boys were calm, and at around the time that their mother made the decision to go downstairs to get started on lunch, Duru had wandered into all of their chambers. Instead of being polite in knocking, or in making his presence known, he had just gone into the chambers. An "examination" of sorts had been done before his two-cents was given on what he was seeing.

" 'The models need to go—you are all much too old to be doing and concerning yourselves about them.' " he repeated what the man had said after seeing the models that were in the Young Masters' bedroom chambers.

After seeing the game systems, and their assortment of games, he had said the same thing; in regards to the magazines, that were present in the boys' chambers, he had just exploded and then demanded that they be thrown into a fireplace and then burned.

While he could understand the point in wanting the pornographic magazines to be gotten rid of—he had two sons, who were around the same age that Hazaar and Lazeer were, and they had never seen or owned a magazine of that caliber before—he couldn't understand the point in the man wanting all of the magazines to be destroyed. Not all of them magazines were worthy of being thrown out or destroyed; since he wasn't the Young Masters' parents, and since he had no say on what all they owned in magazine material, he was being respectful in keeping his opinion on their having the pornographic magazines to himself—he, and he bet that his employer and his wife would agree with this, wished that Duru and his wife saw it this way. Their stay here would be a much better one if they had.

Master Tazir had said that the game systems, and their compatible games, were to remain where they were; while he had looked halfway willing to agree with his father on the discarding of the pornographic magazines he had also said that they were to remain where they were. His employer had also said that he saw no wrong in his sons building models—the day following this, the man had gotten his sons, and his daughter, a few models to work on, which had caused him, his father, and his father's wife to fight. Duru, after learning that all that was in the chambers was to remain where they were, had tried to remove the items in question himself—Mistress Angel had come up to put a stop to him doing so on two occasions; lunch, on the day that Duru and his family arrived for their too-long stay, had been a bit late in being eaten thanks to her having to go up to rid her sons of the man.

"Young Master Hazaar isn't one to stand down on things, and he has quite a dandy of a punch to him—according to Zshon, it compares very well with his mother's." he said to his co-worker.

"Duru went into his chamber after learning that all that was in it was to remain where it was," Kohl, who was on one of the lounge's couches, said. "He tried to take the items that he deemed as "unfit" for his grandson... instead of leaving the chamber with the models, magazines, and the game systems and their games, he left with his hand being clamped over his left eye."

The models, the game systems and their games, and the magazines were all still in their appointed chambers; Duru hadn't been allowed to remove a single one of them. Mistress Angel had put a permanent stop to her great-grandfather's bullying by telling him to stay away from her sons' chambers—and, as if to emphasize this, she had also used a spell that'd repel him from going into them. Around the time that lunch was finally done in being eaten, she had found herself as doing the exact same thing to the man's wife—Cyla had gone into each of the Young Masters' bedroom chambers, then she had given everything that was in them a quick looking over before opening her big, fat mouth. Mistress Angel had had a time with her—the last he had heard, the two had had a big verbal fight about what all the boys were into and about what all they should and shouldn't be allowed to play, build, or own.

He didn't know the events of what happened after he went home; judging by what he had seen in the larger kitchen the morning following their arrival, events had grown still worse after he clocked out and then returned to his wife and children. That stack of dishes had been quite small for the number of people that were in the house—with their being twenty-one people in the house now, there should of been forty-two plates, twenty-one glasses, and sixty-three silverware present on one of the larger kitchen's counter-tops. Usually, his employer's family used two plates each during the final meal of the day; they used the same silverware and glass-ware that they received after sitting down to dine at the table—instead of finding the expected number of dishware, silverware, and glasses waiting for one of the maids to put away, he had found a stack fit for around twelve people. He guessed that nearly half of the people in the house had grown upset during the meal and then left for another part of the house—with Ulision not being in the kitchen, he hadn't been able to ask if he knew of the events that happened at supper-time.

A near-repeat of the events that happened on the day of Duru and his family's arrival occurred on the 17th and 18th; due to how early it was, they had yet to see what the events of that day were going to be.

"Damn," Homsi cursed after being told the scoop on what was going on in the house. "I take it that Mistress Angel's not been seen today—I didn't see her while on the way up here."

"Last I heard, she was on the third level—she removed herself from our employer's nightly company on the day following Duru's arrival... been sleeping on that level for two nights now." Kalach replied.

After being told where his employer's wife was, he left the lounge then went down the hallway; along with wanting to see her, he wanted to speak to her of the events that had happened in the last two days and he also wanted to see how her present mood was in regards to them events. The last thing that he, and his employer, and his employer's daughter, wanted was for her to up and leave again—she belonged here, not on any other planet or in any other galaxy that was known to exist in the great cosmos of the Universe.

Women were prone to becoming very stressful creatures when the relative health and well-being of their young was involved; along with not wanting her to become too stressed out over Duru's, and his family's, arrival he also didn't want her to hurt herself. Like with Eldass, a sixth sense had become present in him soon after he had been made his employer's Most Trusted Butler; this sense had become associated with his employer's wife almost immediately after she was noted as being his wife—he used this sense to take him to where she may be.

He went up the stairs that led up to the house's third level then he went down the hallway; after going about ten to fifteen steps, he stopped—the room, that was across from the third one on the hallway, was closed but he could see that it was lit on the inside. He could also hear someone talking from within the room. After going towards the room's door, then placing his ear to its wood, he listened; in all, it took him just five seconds before recognizing the voice belonging to his employer's wife. With his employer's wife's voice recognized, he stepped back from the door then reached forward to "knock" on it. A single, light tap was what did the trick in telling the ones that were inside that he wanted to see them; his employer's wife, about thirty to forty seconds after the door was tapped on, opened it then beckoned for him to come in.

He wasn't but so surprised over her swift closure of the door after he entered the room and he was also not surprised over her giving him a quick once-over after the door was closed—with the way things were in the house, she looked tense, which gave him a bit of concern.

"I suppose that you're here to tell me that my husband wishes for me and the boys to come down for breakfast?" she said after checking to see if he was a threat or not.

"No, Mistress. Came up here with the hope to be able to speak with you about—" he looked at the four boys, who were either lying on the room's one bed or were sitting on the room's present furniture, before going on. "—what happened over the last two days."

"Take it that you just got back from vacation? Don't you think you should get back in the groove of working for my husband before tackling any issues that revolve around me and my sons?" his Mistress asked.

"All's fine on my end, Mistress." he said. Really, for him, there was nothing to it in returning to work—but, nonetheless, he respected and accepted her concern and question about his just making a return to normal living, which meant his waking in the morning and then going off to work after doing his usual routine at home.

It looked like she had gone down to freshen up after waking; the hair was as vibrant, and as glowing, as ever and the skin was as clean as could be. The electric blue shirt, that had a removable collar, a ruffled front, and slightly transparent shoulders, looked nice on her and so did the pair of blue pants that had a light blue stripe running down the outer side of their pant legs. It was quite apparent that she had used the room to sleep in—the one bed, while looking to be made, had the signs of someone having slept on it. The white, wrought iron table, that was by the bed's foot, had a few magazines on it—a mild glance told him that all of them belonged to his employer's sons. He was fast in coming under the idea of it either being one person—his employer's wife—or many—his employer's wife and their four sons—as taking the room up last night.

Young Master Lazeer was seated in the Papasan rattan chair, that was in the room's bottom right corner; it looked like he had a handheld device in his hand, and it looked like there was a small pile of cartridges beside him that looked to belong to the device. Young Master Hazaar was lying on the bed while his older full-brother was sitting on the dark blue fainting couch, which was directly beside the room's adjacent bathroom, which was to the left of the room. The oldest boy—Young Master Bile—looked to be pacing back and forth; it was quite apparent that he wasn't very settled that morning.

"There's not much to talk about on the last few days, Homsi." his Mistress said distantly. "My great-grandfather, and his family, arrived; a lot of shit happened because of them, which has caused us to want to remain up here instead of spending time downstairs." she said nothing for the longest of time; he was about to speak to her, and offer her words of advice on what was going on, when she finally sighed and then spoke again. "I had Tazir hand over the keys to my sons' chambers yesterday. My sons have the keys to their rooms now; for the last twenty-four hours, they've been making double sure to lock their rooms after leaving them. As you can see, my sons are with me—they've refused to leave my side for the last twelve hours."

"Duru is a most unappealing man," Homsi said. "He hasn't tried to hurt the boys, has he?"

"No. But my boys are sure showing him that just because they're young doesn't mean that they can't defend themselves." she replied. "I'm not so much worried about Gaajah or Selik; it's my great-grandfather, and his wife, that I worry about."

Even though he had assured himself of his still being in her favor he had still wondered if she saw him as being in her Circle; sixteen hundred years was a long time—a lot had happened over the years. With there being a sixteen hundred gap between his knowing who she was then and who she was now, she had become a sort of stranger to him—with this under his cap, he had placed a call to his father; the question that had given him a cause for concern had been asked and his old Paw, who was quite wise, and kind to ones who were both known and kind to him, had answered it and had given him a piece of advice along the way in what he should do in regards to her.

"Trust your instincts," Paw had said. "She may be aggressive, and a little distrustful of you at the start, but she'll return to acting as she was before she left with the boys. Act as you normally would around her but also be slow and extremely patient; the results that you aim to get might just be achieved if you do, Hom."

While she had been a little off after he entered the room she hadn't given him any signs over wanting him to be away from her or of her being distrustful of him. She had spoken of what was going on in the house, and she had also mentioned something about how her sons were holding up against the threat that was going on in their lives—this, in itself, told him that his standing with her was still intact. She could well of said nothing. Instead of telling him what she had just told him she could of said that they were fine or skipped over the question for conversation on something else that didn't involve her and her sons.

When she spoke of her feelings about what was currently going on in the house—about how she had been nervous about the Ubalki's coming over, and then getting over it after seeing that they were taking things slow with her and her sons, and after seeing that they were also giving her and her sons the respect that they needed, and about how she felt about Duru, his wife, and their children being in the house, and about the other arrivals who had yet to drop in for their prolonged stay—he got a double confirmation on his standing with her being fine. She hadn't been reluctant at all in telling him her feelings about the current situation that was going on in the house that she and her sons had recently been returned to and she had also had a look to her that said that she trusted him.

During her confiding in him her feelings, he noticed that her sons were all quiet; while some were point-blank looking at him there was one or two that were trying to mask their looks by having their magazines held up to their faces—he could see the eyes peering over the tops of them magazines, so he knew that they were curious about him and that they were also concerned about his possibly being "among the ones that turned the house upside down in less than five minutes".

When she started asking him about his opinion on her mothering skills—about her allowing her sons to read the magazines that they got, and about their playing their video games and building their models, and about her allowing them to wear what they wanted to wear—he was triple-assured of his standing with her. He was very aware that if he wasn't still in her Circle he wouldn't of been asked this; despite this knowledge, he acted very professional and calm around her—she was in enough stress as was, there wasn't any need in his adding more to it by being rude or by brushing her and her concern off.

"Mistress, I have two sons that are slightly older than your oldest son—I can tell you that they act much like your own sons. One's parenting is never comparable to another's, Mistress, but I can tell that you've done a very fine job in raising your sons and I can also tell you that you've done no wrong in letting them do as they are currently doing now." Homsi said. "The Young Master's are dressed very well for their age—if they had been walking around with barely anything covering their parts then, yes, I would say that they're inappropriately dressed but, from what I'm able to see, and from what I saw when I was on Earth, they don't do so. I see them as wearing items that ones of their gender would wear—they are at an age where cool is... well, cool."

"That's what ma said to our great-grandfather," Bile said. After saying this, he mumbled, "Course, no one can say anything to the man when the man's equal is around."

And, with that, the second oldest of the four boys spoke; he mostly spoke of the events that happened during supper three nights ago but he also included small snippets of the events that had happened during the meals that occurred on the following two days and on what happened before them meals were given.

Apparently Cyla had eavesdropped on Mrs. Ubalki talking to Qeeta about the fact that his employer's wife was still producing milk for her sons; she had kept the fact of knowing this to herself for some time before, during supper of the day that she, her husband, and their children arrived for their stay, spilling it to the whole of the house's inhabitants. Cyla was dead against it while her husband was both dead against it and disgusted by it—the claim, put forth by both Cyla and her husband, was that the continued production of one's natural milk caused infertility to happen, which would hinder a couple from having children and which would also make the present children become too dependent on their mother. To him, this was bull—Abara hadn't only gotten pregnant while still letting their children have her natural milk but she was still letting three of their five children nurse from her. She had been the one to make the decision on weaning Arenzoar and Beaufi of her milk; he hadn't had any involvement or say on when the time came for the two to be weaned or even on how much of her milk they could have.

The heartless scrooge that was his employer's father had demanded that his employer give his wife the pill that would make her milk supply dry up; after hearing that his demand wasn't to be done, he had stood up and then started yelling at him about what he was doing to both himself, his wife, to their children, and to the whole of their family by letting his wife do as she was with her children. On the day that followed the family's arrival to the house, the man had gotten on Young Master Bile for eating so much and for Mistress Angel's "culinary" skills—the man hadn't liked the wide assortment of food that had been placed on the table and he hadn't liked the idea of the boys taking what they wanted of it either. During the concluding dessert of the meal that was served on that day, he had tried to pull a fast one by saying that the younger members at the table were allowed one and only one thing that had been placed on the table—as Kalach had told him, most of his employer's family had left the table before supper was able to be served on the day of Duru and his family's arrival; on the two days that followed, they had managed to eat the main course of the day's final meal before growing tired of Duru and his wife's shenanigans. They, along with the Ubalki's, and Qeeta, had gotten up and then gone to the smaller kitchen on them days while, on the preceding day, they had gone hungry.

"I see no wrong in what your mother's doing in accord to you and your brothers, sir." Homsi said to Lhaklar. After saying this, he turned to look at and then speak with his mother. "You, My Mistress, are doing nothing wrong in their raising, feeding, or care." He let that sink in, and he let his anger dispel for a few minutes before saying, "Is there anything that you wish for me to bring to you or your sons this morning, Mistress?"

"No, we'll be headed downstairs for breakfast in a few short minutes." Angel said. "We won't be long at the table—think you know why on why we won't be staying in the dining room for long. I'll let my sons make the decision on what they're to do today after breakfast is consumed."

After Homsi left, she turned then gave the word on what they were to do during breakfast; her sons groaned, but didn't complain about going down to join "the family", then they received some comfort from her before being told to get up and then follow her. She allowed for them to take what they had taken to the room last night—she had taken up the room that was across from Hazaar's two nights ago; instead of sleeping in their own rooms last night, they had joined her in the one that she had taken up—then she took them downstairs.

She was a proud mother who relished in the fact that her sons were independent acting and that they didn't copy off of others or try to be others; despite Duru and Cyla's ranting and raving attitudes, her children had continued to don their usual clothes and regard one another in their usual ways. She was glad that her children were non-changed in the way that they acted and she was also glad that Tazir had gotten them a few things to de-stress with—some of her sons had done the models that he had gotten for them while others hadn't; she was hoping that Lhaklar would get to doing his model of the streamlined Tatra T87, or the Tatastream, as Tazir continued to call it, today and she was also hoping that Hazaar would break open the box of his model jet-propulsion train too.

They made it to the table unhindered and they also took their seats unhindered; Tazir, who had long since been at the table, and who had already been eating at the time of their arrival, was fast in looking at them. After acknowledging their presence, then asking her if all was fine with them, then getting a yes-answer to his question, he went back to eating what was on his plate.

Bile placed three of the chocolate-filled pancakes on his plate before making himself a bowl of eggs; he took three slabs of bacon from the tray that they were on before sitting back in his chair. Lhaklar placed an egg omelet, two raspberry cheesecake crepes, and three sausage patties on his plate; due to his not knowing how to handle crepes, Lazeer's plate became saturated by the chocolate sauce that was in the three crepes that he took up from the tray that that food item was on. Lazeer added four sausage patties, and then two bacon slices, to his plate before sitting back in his chair. Hazaar concerned himself mostly with the scrambled and deviled eggs that were in the two dishes; he placed three deviled eggs on his plate before making a better than decent sized bowl of scrambled eggs. At the last possible second, he added a single pancake to his plate as well.

She placed a single pancake on her plate before going on to making herself a bowl of eggs; she grabbed the remaining pieces of bacon, and the final two sausage patties, from their trays before sitting back and then starting in on her breakfast. With herself being as hungry as she was, and with her husband's pancake being as good as it was, she gave it a good consideration about grabbing another after her first was consumed—she had just placed a second pancake on her plate when a throat was cleared; her great-grandfather, the one who had just cleared his throat, spoke right before she could return to eating what was on her plate.

"You and the boys going to act as you did yesterday, and the day before yesterday?"

"Only if we're driven to it." she replied.

"Tazir, I'm not very surprised that you didn't speak up in telling your wife and sons to pipe down last night. I figured that you'd let Angel walk all over you." DuruVile said.

"Pardon me, but we haven't been walking all over him." Angel said. She was offended; not once since their return to the mansion had they taken advantage of her husband.

"From memory of the events of the last two days, you five did look to be doing so." DuruVile said.

"From my _correct_ memory, none of us did or said a thing that would regard such a statement." Angel said. She, and her sons, ate in silence after this conversation was said between her and her great-grandfather. After they finished what was on their plates, she stood up then said, "Excuse me."

His sons, instead of saying their excuses before getting up and then leaving the room, got up and then followed their mother; he let them go. Instead of being angry, or frustrated over their hasty, and very impolite, exit of the room he was emotionless about it. With what they had gone through these past few days, he thought that they deserved to be a little impolite that day.

He had gotten on his father for all that he had said to his family and he had also given Cyla an earful on what all was coming from her mouth; from what he was able to see, all of what he had said to the both of them had gone through one ear and then out the other. He and Eshal, while having eaten on the day of their arrival, hadn't been very hungry during that day's evening meal; Eshal had been fast in following him after he got up and then left the table on that day while, on the two days that followed, she had been a little slow in doing so.

The improperly sent invites, and the express-sent letter, that had explained the situation on the invites being accidentally sent out but that hadn't said anything to their recepients on their disregarding them, had gotten to their destination on the same day that his mother and stepfather's, and their family's, and Qeeta's invites were received—due to his father, and his family, being with his father at the time, they hadn't been able to notice them or swing in for their stay; according to Gaajah, after they got home, then set their bags down, then retrieved the mail, which had been all bundled up and waiting all nice and patiently in their box for them, they had re-grabbed their bags and then swung over.

He, after being told this, had put two-and-two together on when the others who had been sent an invite were to get here. If his father, and his family, had gotten their invites three days ago then there was a possibility that his brother, and his family, had also gotten theirs. For all he knew, his grandfather might of gotten his today—while his grandfather lived close to where his father did there may be a chance that the mail carrier hadn't noticed the invite and then placed it in his box or that the mail in his area was a little slow in being sent out.

He finished his breakfast then he stood up to leave the room; it seemed that the second his plate was clean everyone else was either nearing their meal's completion or was done in eating—Eshal collected the dishes for a while before relinquishing that activity to the two maids, who had come in after seeing him as exiting the room. She, Blaiga, Defe, and Uevaa went off together; Efagti, Amadh, and Phaggo went off with his stepfather while Selik ran off to some other part in the house. His father, and Gaajah, followed him while Cyla followed his mother, who had a rather messy toddler in her arms that she wanted to clean up, and Qeeta.

While he had no destination in mind to go to he did have a feeling that it was the gym that his feet were taking him to; the two who were following him said nothing while he led them down the hallway, then around the corner, then down the hallway that the gym was on. In a way, when he heard the characteristic clicking sounds that were given off by the gym's stationed equipment, he wasn't very surprised over finding that his sons had gone to have a morning work-out. He figured that it was just one of his sons—Bile, he thought—that was in the gym; when he went into the room, then saw that it was Lhaklar and Lazeer instead, he received a small shock.

"Well now I'll be a monkey's uncle," he said after seeing who it was that was in the room. "Decide to work-out some of them morning calories, Boys?"

"Yeah. Or, at least for a short while." Lhaklar, who looked to be lifting a sixty pound dumbbell, said.

"Then we head either upstairs—" Lazeer started to sing.

"—or to the library." Lhaklar ended.

"You're weird—books after working out in the gym and then breakfast? Yuck!" Lazeer said while pulling himself back along the floor. The Ab Roller that he was using was a "fairly" recent addition to the gym—it had been purchased some fifty to sixty years ago; unlike the other equipment in the gym, it had just been purchased and then stored in the attic. Lazeer, who had done a little exploring in that part of the house a few days ago, had found and then brought it down to the room that it was now being used in. He was glad to see that the piece of equipment was being put to use and he was also glad that his son had "the nerve" to move things around in the house's attic.

"How's your foot this morning, Lhaklar?" TazirVile asked his oldest son.

"Stings. It's still swollen, and bruised, but the swelling and bruising aren't as pronounced as they were yesterday." Lhaklar replied.

"Are you able to walk on it alright?"

"With quite a lot of limping, yes." Lhaklar replied.

"Take it easy whenever you move around, son." TazirVile said after going forward to join his sons in using the gym's equipment. "You don't think it's still broken, right?"

"No—I can put some of my weight on it but not for long." Lhaklar replied. "Has no smell to it, if that's your next question."

"Yes it does," Lazeer was fast in sitting upright. "Smells like it got sprayed by a skunk; I'm guessing that he walked through a sewer afterwards. Phew!"

"Very funny, Lazeer." Lhaklar said.

The dark gray tuxedo jacket, that had a normal tail on its back, was removed and then set to the side; the light gray vest, that's ties were an even lighter shade of gray, was removed next. The shirt that he was wearing, which was a faint gray color, and which had long sleeves and light silver buttons running down its front, followed suit. Once his top half was de-clothed, he went towards the machine that he had purchased just five days ago—due to the Twist 'n' Pull having a belt on it, it resembled a treadmill; the two elastic bands, that were connected to the side of the belt, were the cause for the device's name. One walked, or ran, while pulling, or twisting, the elastic bands—there were no bars on either side of him for a reason; this was a machine used to aid one in gaining better balance. Due to this being a very new device in his gym, he was the only one allowed to use it—until he got the hang of it, and until his sons saw how to use it, no one but he was to use it. He used this machine for a total of fifteen minutes before deciding to get off and then move on to where the weights were; a hundred and fifty pounds were added to the bar, then the bar was lifted a total of twenty times, before being set down—he had no more set the weighted bar down when he noticed that his youngest son was wearing the vest that went with the room's synthetic rock wall.

He watched with baited breath as his son started ascending the wall; on one or two occasions, he contemplated going forward to either supervise or to just plain be close in case something happened and he was needed and fast. When his son was six feet up the wall, he let his breath go—Lazeer looked to be doing fairly well on the wall and he also looked quite strong and sure of his movements.

"I am quite impressed with the one that was prematurely born." DuruVile, who had been watching as his three family members worked out in the gym, said after stepping over to his son's side. "Seems to carry the same air that your brother had at that age."

"This is the first time that I've been in the gym with him—I'm also impressed with him." TazirVile replied.

"Your firstborn seems to be lame, Boy." DuruVile said. "He's been limping the entire time that I and mine have been here, do you know why?"

"He dropped a weight on his foot a couple of days ago." TazirVile replied.

"Did he break his foot?" DuruVile asked.

"Yes, but it's not broken anymore. He's still experiencing bouts of sw—"

"Then he should act like a man and walk like he should." DuruVile said crisply.

"You're one to talk, dude." Lhaklar said. He had heard everything that his father and grandfather had said. "Interrupting another is rather childish."

"I see that your mother hasn't taught you manners either," DuruVile said. "Speaking when not spoken to and acting disrespectful. Disgraceful, utterly disgraceful."

"What you did in interrupting my father is worse." Lhaklar pointed out.

"My father is one of the elders in this room—he has more rank." Gaajah said.

If he was able to roll his eyes he would; the one who had spoken was, technically, his uncle—with the way the guy acted, he wouldn't be calling or referring to him as being that. The kid's name was GaajahVile Vulbub Surfeit, or Gaajah to the ones that were his family or who knew him; he was two thousand years old. He didn't look anything like his father.

Instead of being bi-colored, like his father and most of his siblings, he was solid-colored—he had light blue skin and a normal-sized head from which two, slightly elongated ears stuck out from. His slightly elongated ears were a tinge darker than the rest of him; they had just one, black, Tiger-like stripe on them. His body build, though being lean, like his father's, wasn't like that of his father's—the immature muscle, that was present on him, made him look physically behind in development. His eyes were the only thing that he had that said that he was a son of DuruVile Bolushi Surfeit—they were a glowing green color, and they had yellow pupils in their centers. He stood a good, six foot, two inches tall; the fingernails, that came out from the ends of each of his fingers, were a dark blue color. Like his father's fingernails, they had been filed to having finely sharp points on them.

Instead of wearing something that a teenager would he was wearing something very ancient—and something that he'd not be caught dead in. The red velvet and satin jacket was long; it had dull gold buttons and embroidery on its front. The red, long sleeve, button down shirt looked normal in appearance while the bright red vest, that had gold buttons on it, didn't. The kid's red pants went to just his knees; the garter ties, that were around the ends of the pant legs, held the pants tight to his knees. The slacks, that came out from the pant legs' ends, were crisp and white and non-wrinkled. To him, the pair of dark brown shoes, that had a silver buckle on their tops, didn't fit or match the outfit at all.

"Should consider asking him if he needs a powdered wig—he looks like one of them people who lived in the colonial days." Lhaklar thought while lifting the dumbbell.

Lazeer was able to achieve ten feet before his arms started showing that they were nearing their limit; after his arms started shaking, and after he nearly lost his grip on one of the wall's hand-holds, he started his descent. Once on the floor, he shook his arms then went to remove the vest from himself. He had only just gotten the vest from his body when his mother walked into the room—she had a displeased look on her face; the one that she was dragging along behind her looked plain embarrassed.

"Girl! Remove your hand from my son this minute!" DuruVile barked after turning and then seeing that his son was struggling to get free of the one that had him.

"You need to teach this one some manners, granpappy." Angel said. She released Selik, who was fast in running over to his father; he "hid" himself behind his father while she went over to where her youngest son was. "Hazaar was using one of the upstairs bathrooms when he barged in on him—along with causing a small fight he also made the scrape, that my son received a few days ago, to reopen."

"Boy—have I not told you that bathrooms are not places to cut up in!" DuruVile swiped his hand back; a sound was heard after it collided with Selik's arm.

"S-sorry dad. I didn't know that he..." Selik was near to tears; his arm, where his father's strike landed, was throbbing and causing him a bit of grief. Despite his emotional and physical pain, he knew better than to show that he was hurting; that went double for the fear that he felt—if he had shown either, he might well of gotten ten times worse than a plain hit.

"Did he take care of his elbow, mom?" Lhaklar, who had already placed the dumbbell down, asked. He stood from the bench that he was sitting on then he limped over to his mother.

"I don't know," Angel answered. "He ran off in a huff after I got there to put a stop to the two's fighting."

"You don't seem very concerned, Angel." DuruVile was quite shocked over hearing that his great-granddaughter wasn't but so concerned over her son being injured; he had figured that she'd be jumping all over the walls with worry—instead, she had just brought him his son and then calmed down after explaining the situation.

"My boys are among the strong elite—you throw something at them, or bring them down, and they'll just keep getting up." Angel said. "Hazaar's fine—his scrape is deep but it's not deep enough to be concerned about. He'll take care of himself, I'm sure."

"I've seen that scrape... he's had twenty times worse in the past." Lhaklar said. He turned to look at his mother after something came to him. "Remember when both of his knees were scraped down to nearly the bone when we were—"

"I remember," Angel said. Since it had been brought up, she decided to speak more of the day that her son had just referenced. "We were at the beach when it happened. He was running, playing with two or three other kids, when he tripped and then fell on some rocks. He got up, then went on with playing with them kids, afterwards."

"Took you three yells before he stopped and then ran over to you." Lhaklar said.

"When and where did that happened?" TazirVile asked. He was both shocked and proud of his son for continuing to play with the injuries that he had received on the day that had been referenced.

"San Diego, California. Ocean Beach, to be specific." Angel replied. "About eight hundred and one years ago."

"What were you doing in that location, Girl?" DuruVile asked.

"Finishing up the last scene of Volcano Eruption—my sons wanted to come along on that day and, seeing as it was the final day for shooting that film, I decided to let them see what I was doing and then have some fun after everything was said and done with." Angel replied.

"Volcano what?" DuruVile was confused.

While he had heard of certain people using their powers during certain job-placed tasks he had never heard of one who had Surfeit blood running through their veins using the good powers that they had been given while on the job. He found himself feeling rather disappointed in Angel for going so low in using her powers on a feature—he was glad to know that she was alive, and that she was back to being where she was suppose to be, and he was also glad that all of her children were alive and healthy, but he wasn't glad over her decision in using her powers to "better" a feature. Even after hearing that she had done a bunch of features as a way to get her sons through school, and to pay for certain repairs that were needed on their former residences, and for the repairs needed on a vehicle, he was still disappointed in her power usage.

It took him all of thirty seconds to "forget" his disappointment—the fact that she had put the boys through school was what got him in the right mindset and what got a good chunk of his interest. He had a feeling that he'd be "combing" through the files that Tazir claimed to have in his office and he also had a feeling that he was to be both livid, overjoyed, and disappointed over what all he was to find in them files.

"So, think I'll ask one more question before I and my sons vacate the room," Angel said. She gave Selik a long look before turning her gaze to his father. "He's going through that phase where he's rather—"

"He is, yes." DuruVile nodded his head. "Been giving me and my wife and his siblings grief for years now."

"So it's possible that what happened upstairs was just his having an episode and just my son being in the wrong area at the wrong time?" Angel speculated. "Hazaar and Lazeer are also experiencing that phase—Hazaar more so than Lazeer, but even Lazeer has them moments where he gets—"

"Use a stick or a belt on them and they'd not get to them uncontrollable points." DuruVile interrupted.

"I would never!" Angel exclaimed.

"Boys require different disciplinary techniques than girls, Angel." DuruVile said. "They will walk all over you if don't put them in their place and fast."

"My sons have never walked all over me." Angel said. With this said, she turned then started walking away.

"We love and respect her too much to do th—" Lhaklar started to say.

"Lhaklar! Lazeer!"

"Coming!" Lhaklar and Lazeer were fast in joining their mother in leaving the gym.

As his mother and brothers were leaving the gym, he was thinking around the area of his not having to worry about having someone barge in on him when he was using the bathroom during his days in being a civilian of Earth. Even though there had been only two bathrooms in the apartment, and even though there had been five persons living in that apartment, no one had barged in on another or had acted in any way, shape, or form disrespectful whenever the bathroom was being used—that Selik kid looked to either not know the word respect or, if he knew it, he just didn't care to use it. He had barely had his pants up when the kid rushed into the room that he was in; instead of speaking to him, he had just grabbed and then thrown him towards the sink—along with being rude in rushing into the room without knocking first he had also unzipped his zipper and then whipped it out while he was still trying to regroup and then remove himself from his company. As was his natural, he had defended himself—after the guy was done with his business, of course. He had snapped at him, then had given him a few pushes and shoves, before trying to palm-slap him—due to his mother being in the area, and being fast enough to reach him in time, the kid had gotten off lucky; instead of hitting air, he could well of hit him in the face with the hand that he had been swiping at him. After being separated from the kid he had turned and then stomped off towards his room—after getting to his room, the door had been shut and then locked.

The re-opened wound, that was on his elbow, had been tended then he had made the decision to sit before his unopened model; he was currently setting the various pieces to that model up now.

"Don't see a reason to not open it, or build it." he thought after all of the pieces were out and aligned in order of their placing.

While he was a fan of building model trains and spaceships, and while he liked to build model trains and spaceships, he wasn't obsessed over the act of getting a model or over building it—if he was, he would of broken the seal to his new model right after receiving it. He didn't beg, or plead, or try to pull blackmail to get a model and he didn't throw a fuss whenever the supplies that were needed for a model were low or when they were completely used up. If he didn't have the funds to get the supplies for one of his models he'd ask his mother if she'd go out of her way to get them for him—if she couldn't, he didn't throw any lip or become like a baby—and, if he didn't have the funds for a specific model, he'd just wait until next month's allowance came in—he very rarely asked his mother, and brothers, if they could get him a model and he did try to stay clear of asking them to get him a model; building model trains and spaceships was his hobby, he thought that he should be the one fronting the costs for it.

"He's much too old to be worrying about model building, and about getting models or the items required for the models to be built with. Wean him from this hobby, and get rid of the models that he's already done so he's not tempted to return to it." he heard his grandfather saying in the deep recesses of his brain.

If he was being childish in having and building models then wasn't his father also being childish in having bats, Platypuses, and fish as pets and in having so many bat-related artifacts in his house? While he didn't know the man who had run his trap on his hobby very well he had a feeling that he liked to blow a lot of hot air and put people down for the pure reason of being able to do so; he was personally hoping that he'd back off so he could live his life the way he wanted to.

"Before the Zoomers came in, there had been all kinds of trains running the rails on Earth." he thought while gluing certain pieces of his model onto the model's base.

The steam-powered trains were his favorite type of train; they had had a super long run until being mostly retired for favor of the "upgraded" speed-demons that were said to be "energy savers". These trains utilized an energy source that was pumped through the single rail that they ran on—along with running a roller coaster-like course on their rails they also "absorbed" the energy that flowed through their rails. He, who had started liking trains in his early hundreds, had rode on one of these trains once—his face had almost felt like it was being ripped free of him, and his upper and lower body had felt like they were about to be ripped in half, and he had screamed bloody murder until the thing finally stopped. After finally plucking the courage to remove his hands from the pole, that had been in the train's aisle, he had never partaked in riding another of them screaming metal deathtraps again—the ride on the steam-powered trains was much more smoother, and relaxing, in comparison, and he liked riding them trains better than the other ones.

With his thinking about the Earth-made trains, and of his riding them from time to time, and with his doing his model, he lost track of the time. When he looked up and then to the side, he saw that it was nearing lunch-hour—after emitting a gasp, he put the items that he had used on his model train, the engine, of which, was nearly complete, away then he got up from his desk. With his station clean, and with his model now sitting out to dry, he left his room.

He had no more left his room before wanting to return to it; standing two feet from the room that he had just closed and then locked were Gaajah and his younger brother, Selik.

"Oh look, it's the sissy. He finally decided to come out from his hidey hole." Gaajah said after seeing him in the hallway.

He wasn't one of them people who let others walk all over them, or who didn't voice their opinions or stick up for themselves; he had earned a lot of detention during his tenure at Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic and the University of Telepathy for the way he was and, personally, he was glad for all of that gained detention spells and for the record that he had. He was no push-over and he wasn't about to let anyone turn him into one or try to get the better of him—if a fight was going on, you could bet that he'd be putting his best into it and that he'd cause enough damage to the one who was fighting him to remember for a while. With him being this way, he braced himself for the fight that he knew would happen and that did happen almost immediately after he started down the hallway.

Gaajah tried the old flat-tire on him when he was passing him by; he turned right after the heel of his foot was stepped on then he gave a single lunge to indicate that he wasn't in the mood and that the kid needed to back off. Selik took advantage of him being busy with his brother; he swung at his backside twice before slapping him in the back of the head. When he turned to look at the kid, he received a punch to the gut—it was this that caused the normal-range bullying to turn into a full-fledged fight.

Selik tried to grab him after punching him; he ducked just in time to avoid him then he kicked his foot up. Gaajah, who he wasn't able to see or concentrate on, grabbed him from the back then threw him. The kick that he received from Gaajah after he was thrown was what did him in—he yelled after his groin was assaulted by the kid's foot, and he put his hands up to defend himself, but, due to the pain that he was feeling, he wasn't able to get fully mobile or back into the groove of fighting the two of them.

Four punches were thrown after he had most of his mobility taken from him; Gaajah's nose was nearly broken while Selik's nose was broken. The mild kick that he sent in Selik's direction caused Selik to drop to his side—despite the pain that he was in, he managed to get halfway up and then leap at him. He was just placing himself on his foe, and was just gearing up to swing at him, when Gaajah grabbed and then heaved him to the side. He had just managed to get up when a set of hands wrapped around his arm; to his extreme shock, he watched as Gaajah "ripped" the antler from one of the hallway's bronze Elk statues. The kid, after "tearing" the antler from the statue, advanced towards him then started beating him with it

His ribs screamed after the first hit was received, then his stomach acted like it wanted to spew whatever contents that were still in it, then his vision grew very blurry; he was swimming between being conscious and unconscious when the broken antler was swept across his brow. A four-inch long cut opened up, then started bleeding at once; his blood had only just started dripping down to the carpet when the door that was two down from his bedroom opened. Due to his experiencing a sort of black-out, he didn't know the events of what happened next.

"Hey!" Bile roared after seeing his brother being beat up on. Hazaar was nearly slumped over; he was being held by Selik while Selik's older brother was beating him up with something that looked bronze-brown in color and hard. After seeing this spectacle, he rushed forward.

One yank, one twist, and two punches was what it took to get Gaajah away from Hazaar while, with Selik, it just took a single, menacing step to make him relinquish his hold on his brother. Gaajah, who's face was a bloody mess, rushed for his parents; he, who had been listening to some music while watching some tv, guessed that he'd be trying to pin the blame on either him or Hazaar for his broken wrist and for whatever was wrong with his face. His foot being sent up Selik's ass was what got him running in the same direction—he guessed that he'd do the same as his brother in trying to pass the blame on someone else. With the two bullies out of the area, he turned to collect his brother; Hazaar, while looking to not be fully there, was able to get to his feet but he wasn't able to walk like a normal person would—in all, it took him three minutes to get his brother down the hall and then into his bedroom.

Hazaar lost consciousness almost immediately after being placed on the soft sheets that were on his bed; seeing as his brother was already starting to bruise up, and probably harbored more than just plain facial wounds, he went downstairs for a ziplock baggy. After filling this bag, then freezing its contents, he rushed upstairs; the bag was just being placed on his brother's more severe facial bruises when his mother and adoptive father were heard as coming down the hallway.

"Bile, you have two seconds to explain yourself." Angel said after entering the only room on the hallway that was open. "Gaajah claims that you broke his wrist and—"

"Damn right I did!" Bile growled. "Came out of my room to seeing him and his little brother beating up on Hazaar—Gaajah had something in his hand that was a bronze-brown color; Selik was keeping Hazaar in place so he could beat him with it."

"From what Selik's told his father, Hazaar broke a statue and then tried to use it on them, and for no reason at—"

"I can tell you that that is a load of shit!" Bile exclaimed. "Ma, you know Hazaar as well as I do. While he's a bit temperamental, and sometimes hard to get along with, he knows better than to break things that are as expensive as that of what's in this place."

"Where's your brother?" Angel asked.

Gaajah had been the first of the two to squeal about the "happenings" between them and her son; her great-grandfather had flipped after seeing them then he had whisked them away for treatment of their wounds—he wasn't very happy about what had happened between his sons and Hazaar and he was voicing this quite loudly. Even while being on the third level, she could hear him running his fool head off about Gaajah's nose being nearly broken, and about his wrist being broken, and about his face being all cut up, and about Selik's nose being broken and about all of the bruises and cuts that were present on his face—after seeing her son on the room's bed, then going over to see him, she saw that he had a lot more injuries to himself than they did. One look was all it took for her to determine that her son had been the one to be ganged up on and that Bile was telling the truth.

Hazaar had anywhere between six and eight cuts on his face; his lower lip, his left brow, and his right cheek were badly cut while the other cuts were minor ones. His right cheek, and his chin, were already bruising. The fact that her son had his hands between his legs caused her to believe that he had been kicked, or injured, down there—he, after regaining consciousness, started shaking before beginning the process of rolling over to one of his sides.

She knew that her son had a history of breaking things—a few windows in their old apartment had been broken by him, and his fist had gone through the walls a few times, and certain things had been grabbed and then thrown for no reason—but she also knew that he knew better than to grab and then break, or throw, certain things that were very, very expensive. She didn't place blame on her son for the broken statue; after seeing him, and the extent of his injuries, she took him into her arms then started rocking him.

"I d-d-didn't d-do it, mom-my..." Hazaar stammered. "G-Gaajah gra-grabbed it then br-broke it him-himself, I sw-swear!"

"Calm down, Hazie." Angel said. The act of her giving her son a hug seemed to make his tough resolve melt; he had a complete emotional breakdown after her arms were around him.

Lhaklar, who had been in the library, reading up on certain languages that he had an interest in learning, ran up after hearing that his brother had been ganged up on. From the looks of his father, he had gotten to the level just in time; his father looked like he was about to explode—after learning that a statue had been broken, he figured that he was more angered over the statue than over his son being beaten. After getting to the level, and then rushing to his bedroom, he went straight to his bookcase; his wand, which was both silver and straight, and which had a kell and fondel that were molded to look like DNA on it, was retrieved then he broke his neck to get to the room that his father was in.

After running into the room, then noting where his father was, he said the spell that'd cause a copy of the memory of what had happened in the hallway to fly out from Hazaar's temple; the blue strand, that contained the copied memory, hovered in air for a second before being flung in his father's direction. His father took half a dozen steps back, then shook his head, then stared at the floor after the memory was in place—the man, who had been about to get on Hazaar for breaking the statue, tore out of the room right after the memory played itself out for him.

After the man was out of the room, he closed the door. He went to his mother and brother after the door was shut.

"Mistress Angel," the voice belonging to Eldass Zultoa said an hour to an hour and a half later.

"Mr. Zultoa," Angel said after opening the door, and then stepping out to see what the Goblin wanted. "What is it?"

"Master Tazir wants to know if you or your sons are hungry." Eldass said.

"Bile might be," Angel said. "Lhaklar too. Not so sure about Hazaar—he's quite traumatized."

"Master Tazir isn't angry with him about the statue," Eldass said.

That was very true—Master Tazir, after leaving the room, then rushing down to the house's first level, had confronted his father about the statue and then he had targeted his younger brothers for breaking it and for trying to pin the blame on it being broken on his son. A shouting match had happened between father and son after that occurred; from what Kalach had told him, a small fight had happened where blood had been spilled.

Master Tazir's lower lip had been split right open, and his right cheek had a deep cut to it; the man's father sported a badly bruised cheek, and a bad cut to his brow and chin. DuruVile had also been noted as limping after the fight too; Master Tazir must of grabbed the man by his shirt during the fight because the shirt had been noted as missing around half of its buttons.

The bronze Elk statue, which had been purchased from one of them auction houses, and which had cost his employer $4,961, had been repaired; from what he had gathered from Cantrella Koduloktru, one of his fellow female co-workers, both Selik and Gaajah had been punished for their deed in breaking it.

Not a peep had been heard from Young Master Bile's chamber for nearly two hours; with the three boys, who were in the chamber, being so quiet, and with their, and their mother, being a no-show for lunch, they were all thinking that they were hungry. Young Master Lazeer was somewhere in the mansion; he had spent a good chunk of time in one of the house's game rooms before returning to the gym. At present, no one knew where he was.

"I see that he fixed it." Angel said after looking down the hall at the statue that had been broken earlier.

"Yes, Mistress. A spell was done to make it look like nothing had happened to it." Eldass replied.

"Good to know." Angel said. "I'll see if I can send Bile and Lhaklar down for something to eat; Hazaar just calmed down long enough to go to sleep, I don't want to bother him right now."

"I will respect that." Eldass gave a light bow.

He didn't know why but he stayed by the chamber after its door was closed; the ones that were in the room walked around, and spoke among themselves, before leaving. Young Master Bile left the room first. He nodded at him before heading down the hallway. A few minutes after the older boy left the chamber, Lhaklar came out; the youngster went down the hall after acknowledging him then he stopped. He turned around, gave him a look, then turned to resume going down the hallway; he did this a total of three more times before stopping, turning, and then returning to the part of the hallway that his brother's room was on.

When the boy reached him, he stopped then simply stared at him; the face that was on the boy did not look young or like that possessed by a mid-teenager. It looked more like it belonged on a full-grown man, which was both alarming and shocking—with the exception of the skin being mint green, and with the eyes being pistachio-green, he looked almost spot-on to his father!

The boy had no more stopped before him before his mother opened the door and then stepped out; he guessed that she had felt a sense of something about to happen and he also guessed that she wanted to be around to either supervise that something or to prevent it from happening. The lovely woman had only just removed her hand from the room's door knob when her son started speaking to him.

"My mother says that you're the father of one named Daosi." Lhaklar said.

"Yessir."

"I suggest that you do some deep talking to him—he's been threatening my brother whenever he sees him." Lhaklar said. Eldass's breath caught in his throat—Daosi, his secondborn son, had been threatening one of their employer's sons? Sure, Daosi was one who did tend to get into more trouble than Zshon, Yhozah, and Mekaia but would he really head into the territory of threatening one of their employer's children?

"Sir—"

"Lhaklar, if you're looking to cause trouble—" Angel said. This was new to her; until now, she hadn't known that Hazaar was being threatened by anyone who worked for her husband.

"I'm not. I'm just telling him that his son's been threatening Hazaar." Lhaklar said.

"What, sir, is he doing, or saying, to your brother?" Eldass asked.

"He's saying that he's loyal to just my parents—and not to us—and that, if he puts a hand on you, he'll do something bad to him." Lhaklar said. When he saw that the Goblin looked doubtful, he held his wand up. "Should I—"

"No! No sir, you needn't do that." Eldass said. Just seeing his employer's son wielding his wand, and offering to take the memory of what was happening between his brother and his son, and of what was being said by his son, made him believe that he was telling him the truth. "I'll speak to my son... he won't be harming any of you."

"Thank you, Eldass." Angel said. After hearing what she had just heard, she decided to stay on the third level and to remain near Hazaar for a while longer.


	19. Chapter 19

"My mother says that you're the father of one named Daosi."

"Yessir."

"I suggest that you do some deep talking to him—he's been threatening my brother whenever he sees him."

The driver's side door of his Tazzari EC was opened; after getting in, then closing the door, he swung the belt across his top half then pushed the key into the ignition. Once his car was started, and once he was on his way to leaving the employee garage, the words that he had heard from the oldest of his employer's biological sons repeated themselves—it was like they were an on-going echo in his head; he had no control or say in not hearing them and that went double for his not being able to stop them from being played back for him. He, in a way, was a slave to them—he was sick in the stomach because of them and he felt great torment by them.

Daosi, his secondborn son, was threatening Young Master Hazaar? Daosi, a grown man, was threatening a boy who was no more than seventeen hundred years old? For him, this accusation was rather difficult to accept and fathom. After being told of what Daosi was doing, he had kept himself busy and away from his son—his mind had been turned all inside out, and his conscience had just been all messed up after hearing what he had.

While working, and keeping himself away from his son, he had tried to come under the belief that Lhaklar had only told him what he had as a way to create trouble, or had twisted what was really going on around so that it'd seem worse than what it really was. That serious look in the youngster's face, and the fact that he had offered to use his wand to extract his memory of the event that he had disclosed to him, was what was keeping him from believing this—a child of any age, while tempted to throw lies from time to time, wouldn't speak lies of threats given to them or to their kin and they wouldn't make offers to show certain memories that they harbored of the events that they were trying to convince to another either. After realizing that his employer's son was telling the truth, and that his son was doing something that he shouldn't be doing, he had grown both cold in the stomach and pissed off—how dare Daosi threaten a child and how dare Daosi threaten a member of their employer's household! He had done a lot for Daosi over the years... the act of his threatening, and causing stress to happen to one of their employer's children, made him feel like all of what he had done for him had been thrown right back into his face.

He was a very understanding, calm, and confident man and he was also a man who was eternally bonded to his employer—he had been working for TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit for a very long time; he was very loyal to the man, and to his wife... the loyalty that he expressed towards the two was also expressed towards their kids. Even though he hadn't written ES, BV, LS, HS, and LS—double on the latter since Lhaklar and Lazeer both had L-names—on his Loyalty Papers he still showed them untold amounts of loyalty. Up to now, he had figured that his children-turned-co-workers had done the same—from the looks of things, it seemed that Daosi was the only one of his four children that had decided to not do this.

The schedule, for him, was very simple; he could do it with his eyes shut thanks to his having done it for over forty thousand years. Wake up at five, then do whatever routine he was to do before heading out to his car and then driving to work; after punching his ticket in at around 6:30 a.m., he went straight to work. His ticket wasn't punched out until 9 p.m. Due to their working for the same man, Zshon, Daosi, Yhozah, and Mekaia went by this same schedule.

"Think I can bum a ride to work with you, Zshon?" he remembered Daosi asking his brother after he, and his son's three siblings, reached the garage then started the process of getting into the vehicles that they were to take to work that early morning.

"Have an issue with the Fii-at 500-R?" Zshon replied.

"Yeah, think either the carburetor or the fuel pump went out on me."

"Get in, buckle up, and enjoy the ride."

Zshon was two to three car-lengths behind him; Daosi had tried to get Yhozah to "drop" Mekaia for him that evening—Yhozah had given him a smile before saying that he would if Mekaia wasn't already in his car, which meant that Daosi was carpooling with Zshon again. With his leading the way home, he could well twist the wheel, then have the car bar the street of anyone who wanted to use it, then get out and rush back to where his son was.

Instead of taking the normal way home, which was shorter and a lot more smoother than the other roads that were known to exist between his employer's mansion and his house, he was taking the long way. Due to the storm that was going on, it was quite dark out—power for the area had been lost, which meant that the poles, that were on either side of the road, were out and would be out for a while. The storm that was blowing through had been said to be a "small" one; in the next week to two weeks, another "gully washer", as his employer liked to call them large, ocean storms, was expected to come in. If he didn't confront his son on what he was doing in regards to Young Master Hazaar, would he continue as he was with him, and would they have a job after the youngster who was being threatened finally spilled the beans on what was going on between the two of them, or would he come to his good senses in stopping before anything came out of what he was doing?

"With the way Daosi is, he might just continue as-is until something's said." he thought as he continued to drive down the dark and wet street that'd take him and his four children home. "Unless prompted, or scolded to do so, he very rarely apologizes for anything. And he is one who doesn't put full thought in on things before doing them... goes double on what all comes from his mouth too."

He had just driven down a section of road that was nearly overwhelmed with rainwater when he decided to stop his vehicle. His left hand was placed on the lower part of the wheel; with his other hand being placed on the wheel's side, at the three o'clock area, he jerked the wheel to the side then listened as tires squealed. Water flew all over the place as his car was worked into the position that he wanted it to be in.

His car, while being small, did the trick in blocking the road of the ones that were currently using it; Zshon's car came close to going into the ditch while Yhozah's fought to gain traction on the road before stopping. With the road blocked, and with his seatbelt now being removed from his body, he opened the door then lunged in the direction of Zshon's vehicle—Zshon had long since gotten out, and so had Yhozah; Daosi was slowly removing himself from the vehicle that he was tagging a ride in while Mekaia was staying in the one that she was in.

In a way, he didn't care if they witnessed what was about to happen; as he saw it, his job, along with theirs, was in jeopardy—and all because of his son's stupid action of threatening one of the children of their employer's! As he saw it, they needed to see what was to happen between he and his son—it might just prevent them from doing as Daosi had in threatening a child.

After reaching Zshon's vehicle, then getting to within arm's reach of his secondborn son, he flashed his arm out; the sky was lit a bright violet color right when his fist collided with Daosi's jaw.

"Papa," Daosi said while shaking his head, and giving his jaw a rub. "What—"

"If you wish to have a job, and a roof over your head, you best quit threatening our employer's offspring!" Eldass yelled. He grabbed his son by the lapels of the jacket of his light blue tuxedo; while his son's eyes grew wide by his words, he yanked him towards him. He, and his son, stared eye to eye to one another for a while before anything else was said between them. "I don't have a single problem in throwing your ass out on the street, or denouncing you as my son, if I hear that your threats are continuing to be given."

"Papa, I haven't—" Daosi started to say.

"I needn't hear your attempts to pull the wool over my eyes when I have our employer's son offering to show me his memories of the events where you've threatened his brother." Eldass said angrily. After saying this, he threw his son towards the vehicle that he had recently been riding in. He backed away from his son after throwing him. "What were you thinking, or intending to do anyways, Daosi? Was you planning to beat Young Master Hazaar's bottom-end, or put him to the hospital, or in a grave? Do you think that our employer's just going to turn a blind eye to you hurting his son? You're a grown, fucking, man! Hazaar is a mid-teenage boy!"

Zshon and Yhozah watched the events that unfolded between their father, who was madder than a Hornet, and their brother, who looked about ready to drop a load in his shorts, in silent disbelief. The two of them were more than a little shocked over hearing what their father was saying—Daosi, a man who was more than sixty thousand years old, had been caught as threatening one of their employer's children and he had also been caught as putting their careers in jeopardy? Say it wasn't so!

Of their siblings, Daosi was the one who harbored a more disagreeable attitude and temper; their mother, much like they, had been surprised to hear that their father had gotten Daosi a job in working for his employer—they had figured that it'd not last long, and that he'd be fired, or given a rather polite boot from his contract, within two to three months. They had been quite surprised in seeing Daosi as continuing on with his job and in Master Tazir keeping him on as his employee. Of the four of them, it was Daosi who was gotten on the most for the things that he had either done or said while being in their employer's house and he had also been given more than a couple of wrist cuffings too; in all, he had come close to being let go of his job six times over the years—either their brother did some shaping up to not get that dreaded pink slip or their employer had calmed down and then thought of his employee's actions before writing and then giving out that slip of paper. They, and Mekaia, had grown rather nervous after learning that Daosi had pledged his loyalty to their employer—thanks to his loyalty pledging, his act of threatening one of their employer's children had put them and their lives and careers under threat... if he got fired from the job now they were doomed, point blank.

The rain pelted their shoulders as Daosi brushed his hand across his face; while glaring at the man who was half responsible for his creation, he said that he was in no way loyal to their employer's sons and that he wasn't sorry for his given threats or for his causing one, or more, of their employer's children stress. This confiding caused a fuse to break in their father; Papa, his light blue eyes ablaze with his fury, and his body quivering with the rage that was coursing through it, lunged at the man then started pummeling him. Mekaia, who was just now leaving the vehicle that she had taken to ride both to and from work that day, held her hands to her face as their father's fists rained on their brother—due to how loud her father had been when he had grabbed Daosi, she had heard what was going on and she was as shocked as they were about what was going on. Even though she, and they, were shocked over what they had just learned, and were equally shocked over their father's abuse of their brother, they didn't shout or step in to rescue their brother from their father's fury. In their eyes, they saw the assault given to their brother as being rightly given—their father was teaching his son, who was a grown man, a lesson, and a good one at that.

The wind started howling; thunder rumbled either in the distance or a bit too close to their comfort zones; and lightning bedazzled the evening sky as their father taught Daosi his lesson. All it took was five minutes before he finally stepped back from the mess of a man that he had just created—half of Daosi's face was wet with his yellow-colored blood, and his knuckles were a little on the wrecked side, but their father looked relatively unscathed by the return blows that he had received. After their father backed off from their fallen brother, he turned then went back to his car; they, on cue, did the same in going to theirs.

Papa righted his car then drove off. Zshon started his car then followed while Yhozah, who was more than a little unnerved by what he had just witnessed, and heard, was slow in doing so. Mekaia, once the vehicle that she had taken to ride in that evening was started and then driven down the street, looked out the vehicle's back window. Daosi hadn't been in Zshon's car when they shoved off, which meant that they had left him behind. She had just returned herself to looking through the vehicle's front window when her brother's cellular went off; with little hesitation at all, she reached down to retrieve and then answer it. An inner voice told her that it was her father who was calling so she didn't bother in checking to see what the number that was calling was; she just opened the phone then placed it by her ear.

"Who is it that's behind me? Is it you and Yhozah or Zshon?" her father, who didn't sound a bit happy, asked.

"It's Zshon, papa."

"Did you see him as picking Daosi up?"

"No—it was just he who got into his car."

"Good," her father sounded pleased. "Daosi needs some time to himself to figure out what he's going to do in his life."

"He'll be fine, I'm sure. Might be sick when he gets home but he'll be fine."

"If he gets sick then that's a good thing—something with which to keep him home." there was silence on the phone's other end for a total of two minutes before her father spoke again. "Tomorrow, in the morning, I've got plans to see Master Tazir—he has a right to know what's going on between Daosi and his son. Daosi's to expect a sort of slip to be given to him for his activities with Hazaar."

"Do you thing he's going to be fired, papa?" Mekaia asked.

"That or he'll shape up or quit." there was a long pause before he said anything further. "And, if he does get fired, or decides to quit, he's to both move out and change his name. I've worked too damn hard to get us this far... I'm not having any child of mine destroy all that I've worked for."

"We—that's me, Yhozah, and Zshon—understand and respect you, papa."

They drove home, then they ate supper, then they went to bed; their father kept their mother up for a while—they guessed that he told her all of what he had heard of Daosi's activities with Young Master Hazaar and they guessed that he was also readying her for what was to happen tomorrow. It wasn't until after midnight that the two went to bed.

Mekaia, who slept rather lightly that night, was able to hear the door open and then shut at around three in the morning; Daosi, the brother who could possibly be close to shaming their family, stayed downstairs for a few minutes before wandering up to his room. When she got up a few hours later, she saw nor heard a thing of him—the house was eerily quiet, which gave her the creeps and which caused her concern for that day to increase. She, Zshon, and Yhozah ate their breakfast; their father, on the other hand, refused to take anything into himself. After breakfast was consumed, they left to make the trip to work.

The chore of getting into Yhozah's Jagul—a yellow vehicle that drove on two wheels, that were located in the center of the vehicle's undercarriage, and that had two doors on it—was a slow and numb one; she and her brother said nothing while leaving the garage and then starting down the road. Zshon, who led the way to work for nearly ten minutes, suddenly found himself as being passed by—their father sped by him then nearly disappeared afterwards. Due to the fear that she felt, it felt like it took hours before they pulled into the employee garage and then went to punch their cards in.

Their father was nearly twelve minutes arrived to the mansion so he had beat them to both the garage and to the punch-in machine; his swift drive to their employer's house had good purpose in it—he wanted to explain what was going on, and he also wanted to tell their employer why their brother wasn't at work; they guessed that he was going to do some kissing up to their employer as a way to keep both his and their jobs after explaining them two things.

"Damn you, Daosi! Not only has your actions towards Young Master Hazaar put our jobs and lives in jeopardy but it's also put our standing in Goblin Society at risk." she cursed after sliding her work card into the machine. After putting her card back into the slot, that was in the box that was beside the machine, she went into the house then grabbed a feather duster; she had a feeling that she was going to be very tense that day.

The time that the machine had on its record claimed that Eldass punched his ticket in at 6:19 a.m., which was nearly twelve minutes before his usual punch-in time; even though the man arrived before schedule, he wasn't able to see or speak with him—due to the night that he had experienced, he had overslept by over an hour. Angel had, for the fourth night in a row, slept upstairs, so he had been without her company, which was most of the reason to why he hadn't been able to sleep any. The rest of his reason in not being able to sleep revolved around the phone call that he had gotten just before supper was served—his grandfather had gotten his invite at around lunchtime but, due to paperwork, and an issue that was needed to be squared away on one of his conquered realms, he hadn't been able to pack and then swing over for his stay. A promise had been made for him to swing by for his visit the next day, which had made him feel a wee bit nervous.

In comparison to his father, his grandfather was a different man in regards to temperament; while he was sure that he'd be calmer and less confrontational, and more respectful of his wife and children, he was still concerned that he might say something in regards to how the boys were being raised or in how they went by life. Angel, who had been mostly quiet during the mid-day and then evening hours of yesterday, hadn't said much on his grandfather's impending arrival—she had just taken what he had said to her in before giving her head a quick nod; he hoped that she wasn't too nervous about the expected arrival and he also hoped that she wasn't getting but so stressed out over what was going on in the house.

He woke up at 7:25 that morning; even though he was seen by several of his staff, and had done some piddling in either the house's smaller kitchen, or in his office, he saw nor heard a thing of Eldass—which was a good thing because, if he had known about what was to be told to him that morning, he would of probably stayed in bed or made up some excuses to be as busy as could be. At the time that he was putting the stack of school records, that his father had combed through and then either gotten blisteringly mad or half-so content with yesterday afternoon, into one of his office files he received a visitor. His wife, looking just as lovely as ever, knocked on the door then came in after he turned then said his usual of whoever it was that was on the door's other side to enter if it was important or leave if it wasn't. He dropped what he was doing right when she came in.

"My love, you look radiant this morning." TazirVile said after dropping the school files on the cabinet's top.

"Should I not say that to you as well?" Angel asked. "What're you up to at this hour in the morning?"

"Nothing more than a little office maintenance." TazirVile replied.

"Sleep well?"

"Not as well as I should of. The few things that give me cause for concern, and the few dreams that I experienced during the periods when I did fall asleep, was what kept me up."

"Bedding all down at washing deck, I suppose." Angel said. She winked at him.

"Expecting to be down at "washing deck" to retrieve them in a few short hours." TazirVile confirmed what she had said.

"Poor thing... I do think I have abandoned you." Angel said. "You should put me away for that."

"I shall punish you one of these days for forcing me to bed alone." TazirVile said. "An all day type of thing is what I have in mind to do with you."

"Oh my—why not do a half-day with me then give me the night off?" Angel went over to one of the chairs that were placed before her husband's desk; once before the chair, she sat in it.

"Oh now, you'll be getting off much too easy then." TazirVile said. He strode over to his wife then he leaned down to give her a kiss. "Mmmm, I do believe that spark for me is still present in you."

"It's never gone away," Angel said, she then added, "same as the urge that I get to lay hand across your rump before we head to dreamland—I remember all too well the little spanking that I gave you on the night before I left with the boys."

Same old flirting; same old teasing; she was his same old wife—he felt great relief from knowing this. While no sex had happened between them during the time where she had given him her nightly company they had indulged in a few of their old intimate fetishes before going to sleep—instead of jumping right into the thick of having sex with her, and in possibly making another kid with her, he wanted her to be fully settle in the house and he also wanted all of what was stressing her out to drop to a much more manageable level.

The boys, while looking to of become unsettled again, hadn't reverted to their old ways in being nervous or fearful of him. Bile was talking to him, and was acting more loosely around him; Lhaklar, though still throwing them challenges at him from time to time, was also talking and giving him the respect that he thought he should get; Hazaar, while still being a little nervous of him, and though still preferring to keep him at a small distance from him, wasn't acting like he was a full-on threat to him; and Lazeer... well, this son of his was both like Hazaar and Bile, but way funnier acting than them. Eshal, while still looking to be a little fearful of her brothers, was calmer around them and it did look like she was getting along with them much better than earlier that month. With his father, and his family, being in the house, and pulling their crap, he had figured that everyone would return to what they had been after they had been returned to the mansion—he was relieved to know that that hadn't happened.

No relapses had happened. No attempts on his end to regain what his family had cruelly taken from him had been in need of doing. And no full-on fighting was going on. He was hopeful that everything, and everyone, would calm down in the next few days.

With the mood between he and his wife being noted, he leaned in to give her another kiss; his lips had just been placed on hers when Eldass walked into his office. He looked up after hearing the man's throat being cleared, then sighed at having his moment with his wife being robbed, then went to sit behind his desk. He beckoned for the Goblin to come and expel what he wanted to see him about after sitting in his chair.

"I apologize for disturbing you and your wife, sir, but I have something of great importance that I wish to speak with you about." Eldass said after reaching his desk.

"Take a seat, Eldass." TazirVile said. With the Goblin seated, he turned to address his wife. "This'll only take a minute, My Love."

"Take your time," Angel said.

While she didn't want to think about it, she had a feeling about what was about to happen between her husband and his employee. Such a nice, pleasant morning was, she believed, about to be given a bit of darkness; when her feeling turned out to be true, she wasn't but so surprised about it.

Eldass didn't dawdle on telling her husband what he had heard yesterday afternoon; he spoke of Lhaklar's confiding in him about what his son was doing to Hazaar, and he spoke of Lhaklar's motion in lifting his wand and then asking if he wanted to see his memory of Daosi causing Hazaar stress, then he spoke of how he had handled the situation after learning about it. Eldass, the man who was the longest employed in her husband's staff, spilled all of what he knew on the subject of Daosi's threatening actions towards Hazaar then he simply sat and waited—in a lot of ways, he looked like a child who was waiting to be reprimanded for what he or she had been caught doing or what he or she had been squealed on.

Angel looked at her husband after it was all said and in the open; the look of shock, that was present on his face, was almost immediately overtaken by pure anger. While she understood why he was angry she couldn't help but feel a little fear for the man who had just confided in him—Lhaklar, after speaking of what was going on between Hazaar and Daosi, had done a spell to make a copy of his memory from where Daosi threatened his brother; after making a copy of it, he had placed it in the sink of Bile's bedroom's bathroom. A trip to the house's smaller kitchen had been made, then a pickle jar had been retrieved and then brought up; that jar had been cleaned and then dried well before that copied memory was put in it. The jar, from what she had been told, had been half-full of pickles at the time—her son claimed to of eaten one of the pickles; the other pickles had been put into another jar, which had been put in the fridge almost immediately after being opened.

This liquefied memory had been given to her right after the jar's cap was placed on it; her son claimed that he wanted her to be the one to unveil it if the man who was half responsible for his and his brothers' creation didn't believe what was "eventually" told to him. While her children had grown calmer around their father they hadn't started trusting him yet—this crushed her as much as it probably crushed them; it would probably also crush Tazir if he knew that they didn't trust him as well as he thought they did.

With the way things looked, that jarred memory might not be used for anything—if it wasn't poured down the drain then it'd probably take up space on a bookcase somewhere. Her very livid husband looked to of believed every word of what Eldass had told him; it looked like Eldass was in for an earful, which caused her to worry about him. Before her husband could speak to the Goblin, she leaned forward to say something to him around the area of what he had just been told about.

"Taz, before you make any judgements, or let your anger get the better of you, let me suggest that you don't fully accuse Eldass for anything." this was no more said before her throat closed on her; TazirVile's head was slow in turning towards her... them eyes of his, while being solid silver, harbored more than enough anger to cause her to want to bite her tongue. Over the years that she had been with him, and living under his roof, she had learned that them eyes of his did show emotions—they weren't just a large, silver oval hidden behind a pair of goggled glasses; if one looked at them correctly, they would see that they did harbor emotion. "Eldass isn't the one that you should be mad at, Honey. It's his son who you should be channeling that anger at."

"Angel, please leave me to my employee." TazirVile said. The look in his eyes to the side, even his voice was heavy with the emotion that he was feeling! "We have a few things to chat about on his son."

She did so with a heavy conscience; at the time of her removal from the chair that she had taken to sit in, her eyes and Eldass's locked—the man, while being courageous in telling his employer what was going on between his son and Hazaar, was scared half to death. She thought that he had a good damn reason to be scared—if Tazir's anger was great enough to cause the pink slips to fly then Mr. Zultoa's life, along with those that belonged to his family, was over. All that they had worked for—the house that they lived in, whatever cars that they owned, and the status that they had in their society—was in jeopardy because of Daosi's careless action of threatening her son. Daosi had really created a mess; thanks to his causing her son stress, and to his carrying the Zultoa name, he had caused a lot to happen with both her family and with his. The man, who carried such a high responsibility over protecting his surname, might well of caused both himself, his three siblings, and his father to be fired.

She remembered asking Eldass why he, and his co-workers, were so concerned over what everyone in their society saw and thought of them once; along with being given the scoop on why they were so concerned about what others in their society thought of them she had also been given a little history on the Goblin race.

Goblin society had started on a planet that was no longer in existence in the Universe; it had started as being unruly, with one Goblin killing another without worry, and with one Goblin taking another's spouse, or child, without concerning themselves about what they were causing their abducted person's families to go through in worrying about what was going on with their stolen kinfolk. They had also been prone to stealing certain goods and, when the chance was noticed, money. It had taken around fifty to a hundred thousand years before the extensive crime-doing was put to a halt; a man by the name of Vulutamin Wyiaf, after having his wife and unborn child stolen from him, had banded together with nineteen other men and women who had also grown tired of their kind's ways. The twenty people had created a council, then had made a bunch of laws and codes that their species was to adhere to, then had created a force that would enforce the laws and codes that they had created. In all, it had taken two millennia before the Goblin Code was accepted; countless banishings, jailings, battles, and riots had happened in that time, and an estimated two to three million had succumbed to their kind's refusal to take on the Code that had been placed on them.

After being born, a Goblin was photographed; details such as the name given to them, their lineage, their fingerprints, and any and all birthmarks and/or scars were taken down and then placed in a file, which would be kept in "headquarters". When a child grew to the age where they were able to go to school, they took an oath to always adhere to the Code. Goblins could be as rude and as nasty as they wanted to but they had to remain level-headed around their employers at all times. Goblins could choose to not speak to anyone in their employer's family, or even to their employer, but they couldn't harm the ones that they worked for, or the family of their employer's, by hand; in contrast to the ones that they didn't work for, they could lay hand on them as much as they wanted to—but, again, they couldn't do but so much harm to that person. They could break skin, or cause skin to turn colors, or break bones, but they couldn't kill or cause one to be permanently crippled. They could look at certain stuff owned by the people that they abused but they couldn't touch or destroy it. They could defend themselves as much as they wanted to but they couldn't cause the one that they were fighting to be hospitalized forever or to be placed in a coffin.

Each and every person born into Goblin society was carefully watched by their council; if Eldass, and his four children, were canned from the job it was a sure bet that they'd be shunned by their society. They'd lose everything, and they'd no be able to hold a job for very long, and they'd be spoken bad of by the ones that were in their society.

To her, it seemed a bit extreme for a counsel to be so strict after one who was loyal to their employer either quit or was fired. It seemed... cruel that a counsel held the keys to one's future after he or she was canned of their job—she had said this to Eldass; he, while remaining calm in her presence, had said in a rather serious tone that it was best to be done this way. _It's either this way or the way that we use to go by things before the council was implemented_ , was what he had said.

Angel went down to the first level; she passed by Zshon, who looked to be carrying eyes in the back and sides of his head, then she went by Yhozah, who was acting in the exact same fashion. When she went by Mekaia, she noted that she was very tense—the woman's ears looked to be almost pointed at the ceiling; it was like she was trying to catch what was being said in the room that her employer, and her father, were in. After seeing these three people, who were trying to remain cool but who had been very badly effected by what their brother had been doing over the last few weeks, she quickened her pace to the smaller of the house's kitchens.

"Bile, what in the whole wide Universe are you doing—"

She stopped short after seeing that the figure that she had taken as being her son wasn't solid. Her son, who was either just shutting his alarm off or who had already shut his alarm off and then started the process of either getting dressed or using his bedroom's adjacent bathroom, wouldn't be down in the kitchen right now... and he wouldn't look like a ghost either.

At first, she wasn't able to detect any colors on this apparition; after closing her eyes, then giving her head a shake, she saw that he was black. The eyes that stared out from his pitch-black face were a glowing yellow color, and were shaped like scalene triangles; due to the apparition's worn hoodie, she wasn't able to see a thing other than them eyes. His body was big, and was pretty well strong with muscle; the six-pack on his abs looked similar to her oldest son's while, from the waist on down, he looked to be slender. It looked like the pair of pants, that she was almost certain were jeans, were in tatters. Due to the knee on down being so faint, she wasn't able to see what it was that he was wearing on his feet.

Angel blinked her eyes; she thought that what she was seeing would go away after she did so, and she thought that what she was seeing wasn't real—she had just gotten up, and the light in the room had just been turned on, so she thought that her eyes were playing tricks on her. When the figure remained by the room's refrigerator, she closed and then rubbed her eyes—after taking her hands down, she not only saw that her thought of the figure disappearing was incorrect but that the figure was still there. This caused her to feel a great deal of fear. She had closed her eyes multiple times and yet the figure was still by the fridge, and she was still able to note that he wasn't fully solid! After seeing that the figure was still in the room, and was still ghost-like, she hitched in breath to scream.

Her mouth had only just been dropped for the scream to be expelled when the figure before her spoke.

"Why?" the figure, who's voice wasn't only low, and nasally, but was also grief-stricken and cracking in the fashion of one who was in his teenage years, asked. "Please, tell me why you abandoned me."

The thought of her hearing the apparition's voice before came and then left her in a micro-second; the first scream wasn't able to be expelled from her. With the apparition speaking to her, her scream had just died in her throat. She tried again. Her mouth was dropped, she felt her throat muscles working, then she readied herself for it.

Nothing. No scream, no moan, no nothing from her. This gave her an incentive to be even more scared. Here was this apparition, that was talking to her, and that didn't want to go away, and here she was... she wasn't able to attract any attention to herself and she wasn't able to make the apparition disappear!

The figure remained in front of her; he looked as if he was pleading for her to answer him and that scared her even more. How could she respond when she couldn't even say anything, or make a single sound? She hitched in breath then tried to scream again; again, she found herself as being unable to do so. It was like she wasn't in the house... maybe she had fallen asleep after entering the room. Maybe, instead of being awake, and conscious of her movements, she was asleep and sleep-walking. Maybe she was in that world that existed between being awake and being asleep. When the idea of the apparition using magic on her, to make her be in the state that she was presently in, came to her, her fear turned to anger.

How dare this person, whoever he was, use magic on her! Who was this person? Why was he terrorizing her?

She, after feeling her newly gained anger course through her, looked at the apparition. If she wasn't able to use her voice to speak to anyone with then, maybe, she could think and, possibly, both answer the apparition's question and attract some attention to herself. When she started thinking up her reply to the apparition's question, she intended to be firm; she was quite surprised when her reply came out as being near motherly. She didn't know why but she was think-talking to the apparition as if he was one of her children.

"I didn't abandon you." she heard herself say. "I, and my sons, didn't abandon you."

"Then, where are you?" the apparition asked her. "I wen-k-t to the apartment... you wasn't there. What happened to you guys?"

"We were captured. We're on another planet... we're in another galaxy."

"Held ag-k-ainst your wills!" the near-apparition said in a near-angered tone. "Where! Where are you guys? I'll come—"

"Mistress?"

How long had she been standing in the way that she was? Her back was so straight that it almost looked fragile enough to break if she so much as moved; her arms were hanging very loosely by her sides; her legs, which were bent ever so slightly, didn't look up to the chore of holding her weight. When he entered the kitchen, he noticed that her fiery red hair was blowing back—it was like it was being blown by the wind, which, owing to the fact that there was no wind present in the room, it shouldn't be doing.

He looked at this curious, yet spooky spectacle before stepping forward. His only intention in going to the house's kitchen was to see and possibly speak with the one that was in the room... instead, he was finding this crazy spectacle of his employer's wife standing like her inner self wasn't in-tune with her physical self. The woman should be manning the stove... She should be making enough eggs to feed an army, or she should be buttering some bread or making some other food that her family would be eating in the imminent future. She shouldn't be standing this stiffly, or looking to not be there in spirit.

After she didn't turn around, or acknowledge him, he walked around to her front-side. The yell that he wanted to emit was bit back extremely—the woman, who was as lovely as could be, should of had a pair of emerald-green eyes that had a single, golden-yellow ring around their black pupils... instead of seeing these very exotic eyes he was seeing nothing but white. The woman was standing like a stiff piece of paper while having a pair of eyes that had rolled completely around so that only their whites could be see!

He rushed forward without giving it a second thought; the loosely hanging arms of the woman, who was his employer's previously missing wife, were grabbed and then shook. He gave the woman's arms two to three shakes before grabbing her about the waist. While shaking her, and trying to take her towards the kitchen's stationed island, he yelled her name.

He had only just started yelling for Yhozah, who he knew was nearby, when she jumped; her eyes returned to looking as they should as she gasped for breath. After regaining her breath, then taking in her surroundings, she grabbed him by his wrists. Only after taking him by the wrists did she speak.

"Zshon... Zshon! Quit... stop it!" Angel said. Curiously, there was a hint of a laugh in her voice. "I am not a rattle, so stop shaking me."

"Mistress, you okay?" Zshon asked.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"I came in here to find you in a... in a sort of trance-like state." Zshon said. He and Angel stared eye-to-eye for a few seconds before Angel gave a small, weak laugh.

"It was bound to happen," Angel said. "I've had several black-out moments while on Earth—they're almost always caused from stress, and from me not getting enough sleep. I'll be fine."

"Mistress, you—"

"I'll be fine." Angel insisted. Although her voice sounded sincere, Zshon thought that she was lying; the fact that she was trembling caused this thought of his to become stronger.

It took a bit of persuading but she did, finally, rid herself of Zshon's company and concern; with what had just been experienced, she most desired to be left alone and to think. To think of the events that had just happened to her, and to put a rational explanation to them, would be a good thing and... well, to make breakfast for her family was also a good thing. Once Zshon was out of the room, and once the pots and pans were out of their cabinets, she set to doing both of them things.

The act of making breakfast, she was fast in discovering, overshadowed her interest in the near-apparition that she had spoken with; it wasn't long before she forgot the figure and about their conversation and it wasn't long before she calmed down and returned to being her former self again.

She did her best in making a meal that would satiate everyone's taste buds. A tray, that consisted of three types of pancakes, was made and then set to the side—Tazir was the "master" at making pancakes that had a filling in them, but she did try her best to fill two of the pancakes that she made with either raspberry or vanilla sauce—then a silver dish, that had a better than "army-sized" helping of croissants in it, was made. Three stacks of bread—one that was fully toasted, another that was half-toasted, and another that was barely toasted—were made and then slapped to a plate then she went on to grabbing and then using two cartons of eggs. Over-easy, scrambled, deviled, and near-raw eggs were made and then placed in individual bowls before she went on to making a decent-sized dish of potato bits—with Hazaar being in the mood that he had been in yesterday, she draped these in Cheddar cheese before placing the lid on the dish.

With her great-grandfather being a "fan" of egg-sausage rolls, she cooked and then made a tray of them before finally making out a memo for Mr. Volvio. Yhozah Zultoa, who was just coming into the kitchen, was given the note and then told to give it to the chef; with the Goblin on his way to delivering her message, she whistled for two maids then waited.

When the maids—one being Mekaia Zultoa while the other being a woman by the name of Attaec Ioniff—entered the room, she asked for their assistance in taking what she had made and then prepared to the table. While the interest in having a few butlers join in on helping to take the food to the table hadn't been disclosed she found herself as having two butlers coming in to help her and the two maids in taking what she had made to the dining room and then getting it all arranged on the table. She, and the two men and women, had only just gotten the table all situated when the first group of people who were expected to take up residency in the room walked in; she smiled at her husband, then made her rounds in saying hello and good morning to her adoptive daughter and sons, then said hello to Ashaklar and Qeeta, before going to take her seat. The ones who had entered the room were fast in following in her example.

"I think ma's been military cooking again!" Bile said after everyone in the first group was seated at the table, and after the lids to the table's various items had been lifted. After making himself a plate of what he wanted to eat that morning, he noticed that his mother looked a bit tired. This gave him a small cause to be concerned. "Ma, you okay? You look a bit—"

"I am, honey." Angel was fast in saying. "Working in the kitchen for a family as large as what I have isn't easy. I'll take a breather after breakfast is eaten."

"I love you," Bile said. His arm stretched over to her shoulders; the hug that he gave her was gentle, yes, but oh so full of love. "You're the best ma in the Universe."

"I love you too, Biley." Angel replied. Surprisingly, she had come very close to falling asleep while he was hugging her.

"Someone really needs to be barred from the kitchen when it comes to cooking for the family." DuruVile said after he, and the second, and final, group of breakfast-attenders entered the room.

"When a woman cooks for her family, she doesn't dilly-dally around." Angel said.

"True," Cyla said. While taking her seat at the table, she nodded her head; even though she wasn't one to openly admit this, she was one who sometimes went overboard when it came to making a meal for her family. "And I suppose that, since you have more than seven here, you do have to cook a lot to meet up with the demands of the extras."

"No trouble in it, granmammy. Cooking is something that I enjoy doing." Angel said. "One of many, actually."

The seemingly calm and cool attitude that was present at the table went on for a while; he was near ready to start thinking that everyone had settled in and that any and all confrontations were to be few and far from now on because of it. He and his children ate their meal; his mother and her family, and Qeeta, made and then ate their meal; and his father and his family made and then ate their meal in near-quiet for a long time before any type of full-on conversation started at the table. With it being early morning, and with everyone either still being in the throes of still waking up or in trying to gain their bearings, he should of known that things weren't going to remain nice and pleasant at the table. Mr. Volvio, it did seem, had gotten a memo from his wife telling him that she had breakfast just fine; nothing that he had made or prepared was set on the table, but he was seen as peeking around the corner a few times—it was quite obvious that the man was curious about what was going on in the room and on why the room was so quiet. A few of the maids and butlers, who were in the area, did the same as Mr. Volvio in peeking their heads around the corner every so often.

The maids, butlers, and the chef found their curious selves as being spectators to the seemingly now normal antics that happened at the table after everyone finished their meal. His stepfather, after cleaning his plate, then pushing it from him, was the one who started the after-meal conversation; everyone else either listened or joined him in the conversation that he had started.

"Think I'll be needing your gym again, Tazir." Cheshire said. "Angel, where in the Universe did you get your culinary skills?"

"My boys, of course, are the answer to that question. Once they started leaving the house to play with the neighborhood kids, or hit them growth spurts, I found myself as having to either do a constant re-stocking of the kitchen cabinets or having to man the stove for sometimes hours at a time." Angel replied. "I always fed them well before them growth spurts came in... found that their demand for food got a bit extreme after they hit them spurts."

"Normal—Cyla, and the ones that I hired to man the house's bigger kitchen, were doing near-constant work in the kitchen when Gaajah, Uevaa, and Selik were going through their growth spurts." DuruVile said. What he said next shattered the seemingly calm and cool air that was in the room. "Piece of advice, Girl—be careful of what you feed your sons. They're a bit too big for their age; don't overdo it in feeding them."

"My sons are very healthy for their ages." Angel said defensively. Despite her exhausted state, she was still going to act in a defensive manner towards her children's well-beings.

"They're still growing, Angel." DuruVile said. "You don't want them to look ungainly—they have at least two more growth spurts to go before their physical maturing is all said and done with."

"I always did think that Bile was going to be a big fella when he got older." Cyla said. "Lhaklar, though, surprises me. I wasn't expecting for him to look the way he does."

"Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer all look like their father," Ashaklar said. "You can see him in each of them three boys."

"No offense, Ashaklar, but I still don't have much faith in your son." Cyla said. "For him to of had enough go for his first wife to conceive was a surprise. For him to of had enough to produce three sons, though..."

"Why are you busting balls?" Hazaar asked Cyla, who was fast in giving him a sharp look.

"Hazaar, you hush." Angel said. While she was glad to hear that he was, in a sense, taking up for his father she didn't think that he should become involved in what was being said at the table. In a way, she didn't help matters by saying, "It's very well known that it's the male that's responsible for deciding what the gender of the unborn child is. The female always carries the X-chromosome on her eggs; the sperm, which carries the chromosome that decides what the gender of the unborn baby is going to be, is the deciding factor."

"Exactly—thank you for pointing that out." Cheshire said. After saying this, he leaned back in his chair.

DuruVile, who felt like he had been deliberately targeted at by Angel's words, stood up. While he was a smart man, and a man who had gone through a lot in his long life, he was also a proud man who did hold himself in very high regard—he had been married six times, with the final marriage being to his second wife, and he had made a total of seventeen children, two, of which, weren't around to speak due to either dying shortly after being born or having died before being expelled from their mother's womb. Of the children that he had sired, six of them were male; the other eleven had been born as being of the female gender—this, he viewed, wasn't on him.

The fact that the man that his ex-wife had gone and married had said something in regards to approving what his great-granddaughter had said didn't mesh well with him either—he felt insulted by the man's seemingly apparent approval of what Angel had said in regards to it being a man who decided the gender of a baby. How dare the farmer/miner, who seemed to not have a "stud"-like bone in his pathetic peasant body, agree with what had just been said! Cheshire Ubalki, he thought, had shown his true colors by not only agreeing with such a ludicrous statement but he had also shown that he was a true kiss-up of a man who agreed with what-all was said only to fit in or be noticed. He disregarded the fact that the man had made three sons in a row before making a daughter and he disregarded the fact that his secondborn son had made one daughter before going on to make three sons—why, if the women that he had married and then had relations with had thought of the egg that they had just released as being a male child he would of had more sons than daughters!

He was very fit and healthy, and his sperm count had just recently been evaluated by the physician that he employed; when he ejaculated, he produced anywhere between a hundred and three hundred thousand sperm... he had only needed to hear the number to know that he was fully fertile and that he was fully able to create further offspring if he so chose to do so with his wife—and if she chose to conceive for him, of course.

Why his secondborn son, who he regarded as being inferior in comparison to his older, and much stronger and healthier looking, half-brother, had had enough to make three children with Angel was beyond him; he was glad to have Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer as his grandsons but he didn't understand how Tazir had been able to create them.

He wasn't about to allow for anyone, his great-granddaughter included in the mix, to say that he was the cause for his having more female offspring than male; after hearing what he just heard from Angel, and after hearing "Mr." Ubalki agreeing with what she had just said, he stood then rang out a lecture to the both of them about the prowess of a male and about how disrespectful their words were in regards to him. After finishing his lecture, he sat down; the table's occupants were quiet for a while before Angel cleared her throat.

"So, uh, from what I was able to read of the one newspaper article that your son kept upstairs, in one of his picture albums, your father was dating some people." Angel, who was picking her words very carefully, said. "Has he become settled yet?"

"No." DuruVile was fast in replying.

"Any baby brothers, or sisters, running around, nipping at your heels or—"

"No."

"Shaam's one of the most eligible bachelors in the Universe; the women are crazy about him and he—" Cyla stopped to look at her husband, who was doing nothing more than looking at his empty plate. "He's dated a few times, but he's not been fully into it. He's been much too concerned with his grief over you and over your disappearance to get fully involved in dating."

She left it at that; due to remembering how her great-grandfather felt about his possibly getting a sibling or two one day, she spoke no more on his father dating or marrying or possibly having more kids.

Her great-grandfather's father was a nice man who did deserve a lot of respect; he was a rather kind and gentle man, but he did have his moments where his temper showed and where he got mean and cruel. She had been the one to bring Shaam back from Limbo, and she was also the one responsible for both his and his only surviving son's relationship to be rekindled and to be as strong as it was—while Duru was reluctant to speak of the issue with his father possibly getting with someone, and having a kid or two with that someone, she knew that he and his father were still as thick as could be.

During the times that she had sent mail to her great-grandfather, she had done a little joking and teasing about his possibly getting a new sibling or two one day. Not a single reply had been received from them sent letters; whenever she and her great-grandfather spoke on the phone about the issue of his having a brother or sister following him around one day, he had either made some excuse to put the phone down or he had changed the subject to something else—it had been quite evident then that he hadn't had a desire to have any siblings and it looked like the feeling was still on-going now. She figured that the man didn't want to have any brothers or sisters; the idea of his not wanting to fall from his father's "favor", or be forgotten after a new sibling was born, had been thought of almost immediately after her correspondence on the issue started.

While she didn't speak it out loud she did think that his desire in not wanting a younger sibling was odd; here he was, adding to his family, and giving his already adult sons and daughters younger siblings, but he didn't want to think about or have any siblings of his own. Surely the man, who was smart enough to know that his place within his father's heart wasn't to ever change, knew that having a sibling or two wouldn't change anything in his life.

After speaking of the subject of Shaam's brief dating life, she decided to discuss something else. She was just dropping her mouth to begin the subject that she had thought to discuss when Hazaar turned and then asked her a question.

"Mom," an instinct told her that he wasn't about to ask her a normal question; something told her that he was about to ask her for something. What could it be that her thirdborn son was about to ask her for? A model of a spaceship or train? A magazine of some sort? After hearing him address her, she turned then looked at him. "I'm a little low on paint—for the model that dad got me, y'know. Can you—"

"What colors do you need, son?" TazirVile asked.

"Rather low on just about... everything." Hazaar replied.

"I'll get you some more."

"Really, Boy, you should can their interest in building models." DuruVile said. "They're not children anymore."

"Even grown men build models, granpappy." Angel said. "What's so wrong in him, or in my other sons, or Eshal, for that matter, getting and then putting a model together?"

"It's childish."

"So is your not wanting a baby sibling." Angel thought. Was that really fair? Surely, if she had been as close to her father as her great-grandfather was to his she'd... no, she knew better. She knew that any additions to her father's family wouldn't change her opinion of him, or her social standing with him, and she also knew that any additions to her family with Tazir wouldn't change her or how she felt about her four sons either. After thinking this thought, she said, "Is that all you need, Hazie? Just the paint, nothing else?"

"Just the paint, momma." Hazaar said.

"Okay, well, seeing as your father's said that he'll take care of that..." Angel trailed off; she said nothing for a few seconds before saying, "I'll not be making any trips to Earth for a while, boys. Something—"

"You'll not be what?" DuruVile, who looked and sounded quite startled, said. "Tazir! You have not been letting her teleport to Earth!"

"She's been going to Earth these past few weeks. Been coming back after every trip so—"

"You shouldn't be letting her!" DuruVile shot up like a Jack-In-The-Box. "We just got her back! She was just brought back to where... you want her to escape again? To take the boys again? I sure as hell don't!"

"She's been returning." TazirVile remarked.

"So what! She was returning way before she disappeared as well!" DuruVile shrieked at the top of his lungs. "Give her something that'll make her unable to teleport—do something, Boy! I don't want her running off again! It damn near killed me on the inside when she disappeared... don't you dare let her—"

"Granpappy! I won't be going back to Earth for a while." Angel said. "I have no reason to disappear; I did so the last time because I was being threatened of having myself taken from my children. Is that happening now? At this moment?"

"I don't want you running off again, Angel. I'm serious now. When you left, you took a piece of me with you. I just got that back. You're my great-granddaughter... they—" DuruVile pointed frantically at Bile, Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer, who were fast in shifting their weight in their chairs. "—are my grandchildren and great-grandchildren! If—"

"I won't be running away again! If I do so at any time in the future, you have my permission to tear every fabric of skin from my backside after I'm found and then returned home." her voice was very elevated; after saying this, she sat down then forced herself to calm down. After calming down, she said, "Besides, the location that you found us in is off-limits now."

"Off-limits. "Bile repeated what his mother had just said. "Why is that, ma?"

"One of the gas lines, that were located under the apartment that we use to live in, exploded a week ago. The apartment went up in a very violent explosion." Angel replied. "I'm not sure why but the military evacuated everyone from Green River, Wyoming almost immediately after it went. They said that the evacuation was done because of radiation concerns, which is crazy because a gas line has no radiation in it. It's just... gas."

"Good thing that we found and then retrieved you and boys when we did, then." TazirVile said after this event was spoken of. After saying this, he stretched his hand towards his wife's. After taking her hand, then smiling at her, he said, "I love you."

"Same to you, Blueberry Cutie."

Conversation went on for another ten or fifteen minutes; when everyone was done talking, the chairs were pushed back and then vacated. Their mother, grandma Ashaklar, and "Granmma Cyla", as the woman was firm on wanting him and his brothers to call her, went in one direction while most of the men went off in another. He and his brothers, instead of dispersing in different directions, or heading off with either Phaggo or getting into some sort of trouble with Gaajah or Selik, went towards the foyer while Eshal went off somewhere with Uevaa, Blaiga, and Defe. Granddad Cheshire "scooped" up Qhuakiz then followed them for a while before heading off to where a different stairwell was—this was fine and dandy for him because he had a certain someone that he wanted to speak with.

After leading his brothers down the hallways, then stopping after reaching the foyer, he turned; the fist that flashed towards Lhaklar struck dead-center—Lhaklar yelled, then fell back to his rump, then gave him a wild look. Hazaar and Lazeer, while emitting gasps over seeing him strike their brother, stood out of his reach; it was quite apparent that they were both curious and afraid of what was to happen next.

"You sorry sack of shit! You said that it was a dream, and that it'd not come true!"

"How the hell was I suppose to know?" Lhaklar returned in a near yell. The twin trails of bluish-colored blood, that were coming from his nose, were slowly trickling towards his chin; he wiped his hand across his chin before they could drip down onto his shirt. "I said what I said to comfort you. How was I suppose to know that what you dreamed was—"

"Our apartment! Our old home... I saw that go up... Go BOOM... in my dream and you made me think that it was nothing more than that!" Bile rushed forward; with one, well-placed kick, he sent Lhaklar flying onto the steps that were on the stairwell that wound around the foyer's left side. "A dream! A dream of where a shadow walked out from nowhere... a dream where many were possibly either injured or killed!"

"I didn't know!" Lhaklar yelled. "I have no newspaper here... I didn't know that what you had dreamed was—"

"Ma could of been in that apartment!" Bile shrieked. He lunged for his brother; due to the stairwell's volute being in the way, and due to his foot coming in contact with the lip of one of stairwell's steps, he tripped. After getting his balance back to where it was suppose to be, he charged up the stairs. Lhaklar was grabbed by the throat and then thrown towards the wall; he kept his grip on his brother's neck after throwing him. "Ma could of been killed if she—"

"How... c-c-could... I... of... k-cknown!" Lhaklar tried his best to pry his brother's hand from his neck; Bile's long, dark yellow fingernails were very dangerously close to his jugular vein, and he was gasping for breath.

"You're a fool!" Bile released his brother; Lhaklar, in the time that he had had him by the throat, had gone a shade lighter green in the face. Lhaklar coughed, and then gasped at his feet, after he released him. "A blasted fool! I don't know why I take your fuckin' advice in the first place, or even waste my time in hanging around you. You're just as spineless as an Octopus!"

"B-Bile..." Hazaar said in a weak voice. When his brother turned, then looked at both him and Lazeer, he felt his throat close up. He, and Lazeer, stepped away from the stairwell that Lhaklar was being assaulted on.

"What! You want a piece of this you little brat?" Bile spat.

"N-n-no..." Hazaar sputtered.

"Then go away! Both you and Lazeer! This is Big Brother time, not time for you two Pissy Fried Baby Wipes to cry and bitch and clutch at our backsides!" Bile snapped. Hazaar and Lazeer, who were phenomenally scared and confused, and who felt a trifle bit hurt by what their brother had just called them, heeded their brother's advice in leaving the area.

He was glad that Hazaar and Lazeer were fleeing the area—they didn't need to see or become apart of what was about to happen between he and Bile! As he saw it, he both deserved and didn't deserve the ass-kicking that he was about to receive—that went double for the near heart attack that he was about to get too.

All he had done was try to help his brother in his time of need; how was he to know that what he had dreamed had really happened? The Green River Star, the local paper that was given out to the people who lived in Green River, Wyoming, wasn't able to be gotten here and he hadn't picked it up or read it in nearly a month; the same went with the local news channels that were present for the community of the area that they had recently been living in—there was no way that he could of known about the apartment going up, so he should be trying to get his brother to calm down... that or getting an adult's attention so that he'd not get beat up but so badly. Instead of just plain helping his brother out in telling him that what he had dreamed was nothing more than a dream he should of gone to his mother; her attention should of been gained and then she should of been the one to speak to his brother on the matter that he had been worried over—he, in a lot of ways, had brought this on himself.

It was this thinking, and this thinking alone, that caused him to keep his mouth shut.

After getting up from the stairwell's steps, he went up the stairwell step by step. While keeping his back pressed against the wall, he kept his eyes on his brother, who was slowly advancing towards him; only after his brother charged at him did he turn and then tear up the rest of the stairs. His knees came very close to banging into his chest; his eyes felt like they were about to burst from their sockets; and his lungs pumped their damn selves into a near-frenzy as he went up the stairs. Surprisingly, he not only beat his brother to the stairs' top but he also started down the hallway with his being behind him by about four or five steps.

He ran on and on until, finally, the pounding sound was heard; he looked around for this sound for all but a second before realizing that it was Bile—he was putting on the heat and, somehow, he was still able to remain in front of him. The three to five length gap that was between them was closed up and fast, but he managed to keep six to eight inches of space between them. Thoughts of his brother catching him, and then tearing him limb from limb, coursed through his mind as he charged down the hallway; thoughts and mental images of his parents and younger siblings, all gathered around his tombstone, occurred right when he was passing the room that he and his family had stayed a week in; and thoughts of his brother spending time behind bars for killing him happened when he was passing by the employee lounge.

He was just going by his parents' bedroom when he decided to make an attempt in turning around and then going back down the hallway—he was running out of hallway to run down, so it was either he try to turn and then go down the hallway that he had just run up or run out of hallway and then be grabbed and brother-demolished. Maybe, if he made it past the raging beast that was his older brother, he could reach one of the foyer's stairwells and then, maybe, he could go down one of them and then make his way to where an adult was. Maybe he'd run into his mother, or his father, or into his grandfather... maybe someone would see, or notice that he was in trouble and needed help and, maybe, that someone would help him in not getting beat up.

While he saw reason in needing to be beat up, he had no intention of letting Bile get a-hold of him. He wasn't about to let his brother end his life, or go to jail for ending his life.

After going by the room that his parents slept in, he edged over to the wall then, on a dime, he turned. He ducked to avoid the hand that swiped at him then he ran on. Once by his brother, he resumed the task of running down the hallway. Whether it was fate or plain consequence he didn't know but, at the precise second that he was going past the employee lounge, Homsi poked his head out from the room's door. Homsi only barely yanked his head back to being inside the room before having it run into by Bile, who was crazily pursuing him still. After Bile went past, Homsi left the room then started after them.

"Hey!" he heard the one who was third in place in their crazy race yell. "Hey! You two!"

With his turning to go down the hallway that branched to the right of the one that ran into the foyer, he had been able to hear the pounding footsteps of two people going up the stairs and then going down the hallway of the second level; after hearing these sounds, he had thought about going to see what it was that was going on and to see if he could put a stop to it. Running in the house was strictly forbidden—unless it had good purpose, no one was allowed to run in the hallways. There were too many things out and in the open; his employer didn't want anything to be broken and he didn't want to have the walls repaired after someone accidentally put a hole in them or ran through them.

It seemed to be his unlucky day because, when he reached the foyer, he wasn't able to see what was going on; a series of knocks were heard on the door right when he appeared in the circle that was the foyer. Seeing as there were others around—co-workers, or people that he either worked for or that were related to the people that he worked for—he trained his attention to the door, and to who was knocking on it.

When he grabbed the door knob, then gave it a twist, he gained the feeling that he was about to see another of the ones that he had accidentally sent an invite to. Would it be Kuruk and his family on the door's other side or would it be Shaam? Would he be seeing the man who seemed to have a better understanding towards his employer in regards to the ones that he hired or would he be seeing the man who had grown sick of him and his co-workers almost immediately after being returned from Limbo?

It was just them folk who had yet to arrive for their visit. Just them six people, who may or may not cause trouble for his employer's family, who were already showing signs of stress from the ones that had arrived for their too-long stay.

As he turned the door knob, he heard the sound of one making a hard turn in the hallway above; the sound of the pursuing party followed that hard turn's doing then, for some reason, the sound of a third joined what he was hearing. What the hell was going on upstairs and why wasn't anyone doing anything to stop it from happening? Surely, there were people in the hallway, or in the employee lounge; the progress of what was going on upstairs should of been put to bed a long time ago. He was shocked in knowing that the ones that were running upstairs were still running and that they had been joined by another.

Who was it that was running in the hallway, he wondered for the thinnest fraction of a second. His Mistress's sons? One or more of Duru and Cyla's children? How about one or more of Ashaklar and Cheshire's kids? There were twelve children in the mansion; any one of them could be the ones that were breaking the No-Running rule that his employer had put down.

He was fast in discarding Miss. Eshal from the list—she knew the rules and she knew better than to run in the house. The Young Masters seemed rather respectful; he was tempted to scratch them from the list of possible House Runners. With their being as young as they were, it might just be Defe and Qhuakiz who were running in the upstairs hallway and then again, going by how disrespectful they were of others, it could also be Gaajah, Uevaa, and Selik. Phaggo and Blaiga were a good bunch of kids that seemed rather respectful; like with Miss. Eshal, he was fast in discarding them from the list.

With his just hearing the sound of someone yelling for the ones that were running in the hallway to stop, and then after hearing the ones that were running in the hallway respond to that person, he figured that the hallway runners would stop and soon; after hearing this exchange, he opened the door then acknowledged the one that was on its other side.

"Mr. Surfeit," Losal Khrelan said after answering the door. He was fast in letting the man in. "My employer's been expecting you."

Lhaklar reached the end of the hallway by, really, the skim of his teeth; he had begged for his brother to not kill him all while running back down the hallway and, naturally, he had also told him that he loved him—both out of honesty and out of trying to get him to be distracted. Bile's response of his loving him too had caused him to put the momentary breaks on, which had caused him to damn near lose his head—Bile, though probably being earnest in saying that he loved him, hadn't been distracted or thrown off in chasing and then wanting to beat him up; the ends of his fingernails had scraped the back of his head just before he was off again.

For him, there were two options—run, and try to get away from his brother, or stop and get the living shit beat out of him, and possibly either be put in the ground or in the hospital afterwards. How he had been able to keep ahead of his brother, and keep his brother from being able to grab him, was beyond him—his brother was faster than he was, so he should of been able to run him down quick. All while running up and then down the hallway, he had kept in front of his brother by either mere inches or by nearly a foot.

He had done the arm pinwheel thing as a way to get more speed into his run; he was now plain running while having his arms stretched out before him. In the one instant that he had partaked in glancing behind him, he had been able to see that his brother was non-changed in what he wanted to do to him. Bile's glowing yellow-green eyes were very bright, and his face was dead-set in what he was doing. During that one glance, he had noticed that Homsi was following them—the man was a distance from him and his brother, so he had known that he'd be little to no help.

When he reached the balcony that overlooked the room that the twin staircases were in, he didn't stop, or turn around, or even concern himself with choosing a stairwell and then going down it. With a groan, he threw himself at the balcony railing then went sailing. When he landed on the floor of the foyer below, he did so with such force that all of his wind was knocked completely from him—this caused him great fear; if he couldn't breathe, he couldn't run or get away from his too-angry brother's clutches. He was sunk. He was as good as a cooked goose now. All Bile would have to do was jump down, then grab him, then pommel him to death.

When Bile leaped over the railing of the balcony, he came close to crying. He managed to move to the right ever so slightly but he wasn't able to avoid his brother falling on him; he yelled after his brother's knee collided with his groin, then he yelled after seeing the anger that was on his brother's face, then he came very close to shitting his pants after seeing that a maroon-colored hand was coming towards his brother's backside.

The last thing that ran through his head, after the hand was seen, was Bile's responding yell of his loving him; once the hand touched Bile's shoulder, then became a firm fist, he blacked out.


	20. Chapter 20

"We should either remove each and every child from the house or have Bile removed!" Cyla exclaimed. "He's dangerous, and he can't be trusted to be around anyone that's either his age or younger than he is."

"I'm very surprised... he was acting very well-behaved before. This is the first time that he's attacked—" TazirVile started to say.

"Come off it, Boy! While on Earth, he was seen as trampling all over Lhaklar, and he was also seen as evicting him from a tree shortly after doing so too." DuruVile spat. Unlike the others, who were sitting in the house's living room, he was pacing back and forth before the fireplace. "That was not his first offense, Tazir. Judging by what happened, it's probably not his first period, and it probably won't be his—"

"They seemed to get along very well... the only ones that I've seen, or heard about fighting, are Hazaar and La—"

"When we got here, we saw that Lhaklar and Hazaar were fighting upstairs. It seems that they are all fighting, Tazir." Cheshire, who's elbows were resting rather uncomfortably on his knees, sighed.

"Pubba gets here and the first thing he sees is a fight," DuruVile shook his head. "What was said again? Bile broke Lhaklar's ribs or—"

"I don't know what all damage he inflicted on his brother. The second Lhaklar was awake, and was on his feet, Angel took them upstairs." TazirVile said. "She's been up there with them for half an hour now."

He was at a loss for words; while trying to be calm, and come up with a logical explanation as to what had just happened in his house, he was very aware that he was near to hyper-ventilating and that he was very close to getting up and then doing as his father was in pacing before the fireplace. Never in his wildest dreams had he expected for one of his current teenage children to turn on one of their brothers in such a violent fashion... he was hoping that this was both a one-time occurrence and that his subsequent male children wouldn't result to such atrocious actions.

He, his father, Efagti, and Amadh had gone to one of the wine cellars for both a "breather" from the womenfolk, and children, and to speak male; he had no idea where the women went or did after breakfast was done in being eaten and that went double for most of the children that were in the house. He had only just gotten through with smoking half of a Mogar when a "ruckus" was heard; instead of sitting in the wine cellar, smoking his Mogar, and conversating it up with the men, he had gotten up and then gone to see what all the commotion was about. After trekking two hallways, then coming upon the foyer, he had seen a shocking sight—his grandfather having a rather perplexed, yet shock-filled, look on his face, and looking to of just relinquished Bile to Angel, and a bunch of his Goblins standing around Lhaklar, who had been all sprawled out on the floor. Lhaklar had been on the floor for all of two or three minutes before making any signs of life; Angel, after seeing him as being capable of moving about under his own power, had taken both he and Bile upstairs—his adoptive son had only just started to disclose a little hysteria at the time of their ascent up the stairs while Lhaklar had plain refused to speak.

His grandfather had put in a few-minute stall to going up the stairs and then heading to where his appointed room was; except for the basics, he had said very little. With the exception of Losal and Homsi, the Goblins who had been seen as being in the foyer had shook their heads and then moved off—after seeing that Mr. Khrelan and Mr. Modulavich were remaining in the foyer, he had taken them to the side for a chat on the happenings of what he had just witnessed the tail-end of. Due to Homsi being so out-of-breath, he hadn't been able to get much from him at first; Mr. Khrelan had said that he had heard someone running about on the second level before hearing someone yelling out for another to "stop". According to Losal, Lhaklar had vaulted over the railing of the balcony that overlooked the foyer; Bile had followed a few seconds later. Before any damage could occur to either of his sons, his grandfather had stepped forward to grab and then separate them.

Once Homsi's wind was caught, and once he was calm enough to speak to, he had learned that he had heard the running, which had prompted him into sticking his head out from the employee lounge. He had seen Lhaklar zipping past him, then he had yanked his head back into the room after seeing that Bile was in heavy pursuit of his brother, then he had rushed out with the hope of chasing the two boys down and then putting an end to what they were doing. Due to his wife still being upstairs, and to his not being able to gain the courage to go up to see, or speak with either her or with one of his sons, he didn't know the cause of the two's charge down the hallway or why they had jumped down from the foyer's balcony.

At the moment, the fourth level was as full as he wanted it to be; no one else was to take up residency on it. The fifth, sixth, and seventh levels were ready for the ones that were expected to come for their visit—with what had just happened heavy on his conscience, he was near ready to call everyone up and then cancel out their invites to come over. He did not want more trouble, or stress, to happen in the house; he had a lot of people in his family... his family, in due time, would be "bumping" into each other too much if they all came over, which might well cause unnecessary fighting. He was very concerned for his wife's stress levels and he was now worried about his sons succumbing to their stress in a violent manner.

His grandfather had been assigned his usual chamber, which was on the house's second level; his brother and sister-in-law, and their three young children, had been pre-assigned chambers that were on the fifth level. If Triskull and Dara Dara were to come by, they'd be given rooms that were located on the second level.

The location of where his wife and two older sons were was known while the location of where his daughter and two younger sons were wasn't; this gave him another cause to be concerned. What were Hazaar and Lazeer doing and how was Eshal going to react after learning that Bile had been noted as chasing after Lhaklar? After the event of Bile chasing after Lhaklar concluded, most everyone in the house had relocated to the living room; he hoped that the ones that's locations weren't known were okay and he also hoped that his wife and two older sons were okay.

"Should I head up to see if Angel's alright?" his mother plucked him from his thoughts. "Or should I—"

"Stay here," a loud, strong, and husky-sounding voice said from the room's currently open doorway. They turned to look at the source of this voice at once. "Leave her and her sons be. Once she's gotten things under control with them, and once she's been told what's going on with them, she'll come down."

Her husband needn't worry about where their two, younger sons were—after hearing what they had of the events that occurred in the foyer, the two had made the trip to the house's third level. She had managed to keep her cool after seeing them entering Bile's bedroom chamber; the two, due to what they had heard of what had happened in the house's foyer, and in the second level's hallway, and due to what Bile had said to them before the event in the foyer and hallway occurred, were quite upset. After having a quick chat with them, she had sent them to their chambers and then returned to Bile's side.

Like her husband, she was shocked over what happened between her two sons but, unlike her husband, who was having a mild episode in not knowing what to do, she knew what to do in accord to the situation—no yelling at her son, or striking at him occurred after she had him in his room. Instead of doing either of them things, she had sat beside him and then spoke to him.

Bile was a mess. Period. Along with crying his eyes out, and pleading insanity, he had told her all of what he had said to Hazaar and Lazeer before the run down the second level's hallway, and then the jump from the foyer's balcony, occurred. He had also told her what he had been meaning to do to Lhaklar after catching him too; the cause to why he had done all of this was only five minutes in being exposed.

Lhaklar wasn't having all that grand a morning; after getting him to his chamber, she had found herself as having to nearly carry him to his bed and then tuck him in. The poor kid had fainted... all that he had gone through had caused some of his mental plugs to become undone and it had also caused him to experience one episode of either fainting or blacking out after another. She was holding onto the hope that he'd fall asleep and then stay asleep—maybe then he'd return to normal. At the moment, she was leaving the injuries that he had on himself be—the tending of his physical injuries, she thought, wasn't as important as his getting in a nap.

Her oldest son, while needing to be dragged down the hallway of the second and then third level, had collapsed and then done the crawling thing after reaching his chamber; the kid, though being the culprit to the experience that he and Lhaklar had gone through, had had a complete emotional breakdown. After following, then helping him to his bed, then sitting beside him, she had found herself as having her shoulder being both leaned and cried on. Between hitching sobs, and periods of his pleading for mercy, he had told her his reason in giving his brother such a spook.

Her son claimed that he didn't mean it; Bile wanted to take it all back, and he seemed to be very sincere in being sorry for what he had done. The bit on the dream that he had experienced a few days ago had been told to her while he had been draped over her lap—which was where he was now.

If not for his rambling on and on about the dream that he had been tormented by, and about her blind confirmation of the dream actually happening, she would of wondered if something wasn't dreadfully wrong with him. Was it the stress of what was going on in the house the cause of his sanity to break; was he starting to succumb to a mental and emotional disorder that had been brought on by the fact that he was inbred three times; or was he just experiencing a moment where all of his contained emotions were breaking to the surface—this was what she would of wondered if not for his telling her about the dream that he had experienced.

Angel looked down at her son, who's shoulders were rolling back and shaking with each and every sob that the one that they belonged to did; while a small smile tugged at the side of her face, she smoothed her hand down his shoulder then gently cupped his chin. While undoing the buttons to her top, she brought him up to where she wanted him to be. Bile wasted no time in latching onto the breast that she was presenting to him; while he took the milk that she was giving him, she rocked him.

"You know you scared three hundred years from Lhaklar's life, right?" she asked her son softly. Bile, who had been allowed to take all that was present in her left breast, looked at her for the longest of time before making the motion to put his head on her shoulder. "You made him go from being young and spry to old and feeble, Biley."

"I'm-I'm sorry." Bile gulped. "On the day that I told him about it, he tried to help me... I believed him and his help only to shame him and his given help this morning. I feel so filthy, ma!"

"Shhhh, baby. Calm down now. I'm sure that he'll forgive you." she said while patting him on the back of the head. "Can you tell me the whole events of what you saw in your dream? All you said was that you saw our old home go up in an explosion."

As he spoke of what he had told his brother about he remembered the events of what happened after he landed on Lhaklar. At first, he hadn't been able to remember who the man was; the maroon-colored hand had grabbed him, then had ripped him up, then had held him steady and he, in response, had swung at its possessor. The one who had grabbed him had responded by yanking him back—his teeth had clacked afterwards, and the colors in the foyer had become nearly one, and he had come very near to losing his footing thanks to that given yank. After being yanked, he had been thrown towards one of the staircases—Mr. Khrelan had been checking Lhaklar out at the time that he had rebounded from the stairs and then started back to where he had formerly been; the one who had thrown him had simply made a groaning sound before returning his hand to his shoulder and then holding him steady. A bunch of Goblins had come down the hallway after he had been grabbed... then his mother had come down the hallway... then his adoptive father had come down the hallway... at the time of his adoptive father's appearance, he had been swimming between being hysterical over what he had done to Lhaklar and scared of the one that had been restraining him.

His mother's face turned to stone as he told of how the apartment that he and his had lived in for three hundred and twenty-two years exploded in a plume of green fire and smoke; the woman that he hoped would give him mercy for his deed towards Lhaklar listened, then nodded her head, then went mhmmm but she didn't say anything about what he was telling her. She only stopped doing this after he spoke of the shadow-person. She looked out into deep space; her eyes became a bit clouded over before clearing up; and her skin grew cold for a few seconds before returning to its former temperature.

After speaking of the events that he had dreamed of, he searched her eyes, and her face, for anything that would say that he was in trouble; when she continued to look like stone, and look like she was a distance from him, he grew fearful that he was about to be given more than a plain dish toweling or chiding.

"That does sound scary, Biley. I can see why you're so freaked out by it." Angel said nearly a minute later. "Having them premonition-like dreams can be right frightening... they can make people think that they're crazy when they're really not."

"Am... am I crazy, mama?" Bile asked. "Am I crazy for dreaming what I did, and for finding out that something similar to it really happened?"

"No, you're not crazy. You got scared, that's far from being crazy." Angel answered. "You should of come to me and told me what happened. I'm glad that you have such a close relationship with your brother, but you really should of come and told me about it."

"I... er, after I woke up that first time... I kept having the dream, mama!" Bile strained. "I woke up a total of three times... I stayed awake for minutes on end after doing so, and I left my room to check on everyone too. When I went back to sleep, it resumed itself. It was like a movie was being played out for me, mama. It wouldn't—"

"Shhhhh, Biley. You just had one of them long and very much overdone premonitions—just something that wouldn't go away." Angel said.

"W-what happened to the apartment, mama? Did it really explode like it did in my dream? Did Expedition Island—" Bile asked.

"All of what you dreamed is spot-on to what happened." Angel said softly. "Everything but the shadow-person, I can't explain that one. And I can't explain why the military wanted everyone out of Green River, and Sweetwater County, either."

"That happened?"

"Mhmm. They evacuated Sweetwater, and its surrounding counties, about twenty to thirty minutes after the apartment exploded. A few counties in northern Colorado were also evacuated—as a precaution, they say."

"Because of radiation, right?"

"Would you like to read the articles that I brought back, son? They have all of what happened, and the reason to why Sweetwater, and its surrounding counties, were evacuated." Angel asked her son. Bile blinked his eyes before nodding his head; with her son's wish disclosed, she reached into the back pocket of her pants for the articles that were in it. Once the articles were in her hand, she pushed her son back then gave them to him.

From the Crook County _Sundance_ , December 14, 4099 (Page 1)  
Military Evacuates Sweetwater, Carbon, Uinta, Lincoln, Sublette, Fremont, and Natrona Counties

While the exact cause isn't known, authorities are saying that all who live in the county of Sweetwater aren't allowed to return to their homes until after its been deemed safe for in-habitation. The evacuation of Sweetwater County, and its surrounding counties, occurred on the heels of an explosion that blew a corner of the small community of Oak Acres, which is located in the town of Green River, from the map; the residence that was known to exist on 14235 Forest Hill Dr. is under intense investigation, and is said to be Ground Zero for the explosion, which occurred during the wee morning hours of December 13, 4099.

The area that the explosion stemmed from is said to be where a very important figure was once living at; Miss. Angel Irene, the one responsible for placing the shields over our planet, and the one responsible for keeping her evil alien father, Master Vile, from gaining control of our planet, retrieved the residence from an undisclosed location in the state of New York three hundred and twenty-two years ago. The residence was county inspected, and was repaired by the ones that were soon to live in it, before being moved into. According to the people who lived near the residence, the ones who lived in the apartment were quiet and very to themselves for nearly a month—many wondered if the alien activity, that was noted as happening close to the residence, hadn't caused the ones that lived in the residence to pack up and then leave. An investigator working on the case did manage to find that Miss. Irene had been told to end her tenure at Green River's local Food Lion; she was said to be working in the Food Lion that's located in Atlantic City, which is in nearby Fremont County, at the time of her reported absence from Green River's Food Lion. In contrast to Miss. Irene's reputed whereabouts, her four sons, who were regularly seen as moving about Green River and its surrounding towns, hadn't been seen in weeks by anyone who lived in or around Green River.

The ten apartments, that were known to be around the one that Miss. Angel Irene, and her four sons, lived in, sustained either heavy damage or were completely destroyed by the explosion; injuries are reported to be many, and the three deaths that have happened are being blamed on the explosion. Miss. Irene, and her sons, haven't been seen anywhere since the apartment's destruction—many are concerned and curious as to where they are and on whether they are the ones responsible for the explosion that claimed their home and neighborhood. According to one neighbor, who sustained minor injuries after the explosion occurred, no one was seen as walking in or around the residence; in contrast to this claim, another neighbor, who was sent to the hospital with internal bleeding and a severely broken arm, says that he saw someone walking away from the residence just after it exploded.

The state council claims that the evacuation is only precautionary; thousands have been relocated and questions abound on what's going on. Many are hoping that Miss. Irene, and her sons, are okay and that they'll show up somewhere where they can be picked up and then questioned on what happened in the area that they called home.

"Don't forget the other one, Bile." Angel said after her son looked up from reading the first of the two articles that she had given him. "The other one is about Expedition Island, and about the radiation concern that caused Sweetwater, and its surrounding counties, to be evacuated."

His breath caught in his throat as he read about how Expedition Island had gone up in "green" flames and about how the Green River Fire Department wasn't allowed to down the fire that had been raging on it. The article, which had been written on December 15, didn't mention anything about the apartment exploding; the fire on Expedition Island, the fire department not being allowed to do their job in downing the island's overly raging green flames, and the mention of radiation poisoning was what the article had been written on. It was a right lengthy article, and it was also from the Crook County, Wyoming _Sundance_ newspaper; after reading it, then giving it, and the other article, to his mother, he looked at the wall. He stared at the wall for the longest of time before, finally, pulling his legs up to his chest and then resting his head on them.

He was confused, and scared, and he had a feeling that his mother was too. After a few minutes passed, he decided to fall back to the bed and then stare at the ceiling; his mother, after he was down, smoothed her hand across the sides of his face, and hummed to him, but she didn't speak any on what he had just read or give him any words of comfort. The kiss that she gave his left cheek made him feel a tinge better but it didn't make his confusion go away.

"Ma," he said after a full ten minutes passed. He pushed himself up then looked her in the eye. "I'd like to apologize to Lhaklar for what I did to him. Can I do that?"

"Think that's a fine thing to do, Bile." his ma said.

Upon leaving his room, they found that they'd not have to make the trek to Lhaklar's room or even knock on the door to see if he was awake or not—the one that he had so viciously and disgustingly chased and assaulted was in the hallway. He was walking around, in a near-daze, which caused both him and his mother to grow concerned.

His mother, who's Stress Meter, he bet, had been jerked up another notch or two, rushed over to his brother; she turned him towards his room, then she led him to it, then she came back for him. After entering his brother's room, he saw that he was sitting on his bed; his hands were nice and relaxed while his head was shaking back and forth. One look at his brother's eyes, which were doing the mad blinking thing, told him that he was having a mild episode—this caused him to feel even worse for what he had done.

He had turned his usually calm, cool, collected, and sometimes overly mature, but very confident, brother into this... If there had been a ruler anywhere nearby, he would of grabbed and then used it on himself. How dare he cause this to happen and how dare he attack Lhaklar!

"Lhakie," he said in the most gentlest of ways that he could. "I'm really sorry for beating you up, and for chasing you. I didn't mean it, or any of the things that I said to you."

"Don't think anything of it," Lhaklar said in a weak, but very strained, voice. What he said next neither he nor their mother caught. "I now know why you reacted in that way."

"Brothers?" Bile held his hand out; the intention was for Lhaklar to either grab and then shake it or just plain look at it. Instead of leaving his hand hovering in air, his brother grabbed and then shook it.

"Always and forever." Lhaklar said. After saying this, he looked down at the floor of his room.

After seeing that her sons had done the make-up game, and were getting along, and were speaking among themselves about the event that they had just shared, she left the room.

As she went down the hallway, then went down the stairwell that connected the second level to the third, she couldn't help but be proud of her sons for being as close as they were to one another or for bucking up in apologizing to one another for their misdeeds as quickly as they did. Unlike her sons, she didn't have all that good a relationship with her two siblings—Rita was of the highly jealous sort, and she seemed to despise her, while Rito... well, he was incredibly stupid, and he seemed to take after either Rita, or their father, in regards to her and her children. For her, for her sons to be as close as they were to one another was a good thing—there need not be any hating, or constant disagreements being experienced between them and that went double for their not having "bad blood" towards one another.

Her slow movement down the hallway that was on the house's second level was done purposely; while on the way down the stairwell that wound around the foyer's left side, she forced herself to move along a little faster. Once she was down the stairs, she went straight to the living room—she had a feeling that that was where everyone was; due to the events that had just happened, and due to just getting an explanation on why they had happened, she wanted to speak to everyone about them and she also wanted to do an attempt in calming anyone who was upset down.

She had no more reached the open door to the living room, or appeared in the doorway, before finding herself as being yanked clean from her feet. If not for her knowing who it was that had her in his arms, she would of screamed and then, possibly, started another event that'd cause her and her sons, and the rest of the people in the house, stress.

"Goodness! Grampy, I do suspect that you are where my boys get their warm hugs from!" Angel exclaimed after finding herself as being in her great-great grandfather's embrace. She was fast in returning the hug given to her.

"Surfeit trademark, Lass. We _always_ give warm hugs to our kin." ShaamVile Kondee Surfeit returned.

No fear at all was shown towards the man who had her in his embrace; she felt as safe, and as loved, as could be in his arms.

Due to how big the man was, she wasn't able to do a full-on return of his hug; the man's size wasn't based from his being fat or grotesque—he was big as in being very muscle-bound. ShaamVile Kondee Surfeit, the only surviving son of RaalVile Dawlur Surfeit and Frahfrie Cloridona, stood an impressive six foot, six inches... his body matched his size perfectly. He had a very striking resemblance to an upside down spinning top—his back and stomach, she knew, were teeming in muscle while his barrel-shaped chest was just the epitome of muscle; his lower half, on the other hand, was more "slender" in build. The arms that were around her could well squeeze the life from her, or cause very horrid damage to her ribs—like with the torso that they were attached to, they were extremely thick with muscle.

ShaamVile Kondee Surfeit, or Shaam, as everyone in the family, and anyone who knew him, called him, had the typical body that was possessed by a Surfeit—it was bi-colored, with the left side being a carmine pink color while the right was maroon. The set of elongated ears, that went the entire length of his shoulders, were burgundy in color; the black, Tiger-like stripes, that were on them, contrasted rather well with that color. His eyes, with the exception of the pupils, that were small and red, were a glowing white color. The long nails, that were on the ends of the man's fingers, were maroon-colored.

"Ah will lock thes hug in mah memory forever." he said just before putting her down. Once she was on the floor, he bent down; the kiss that was placed on her cheek was tenderly given.

She remembered very well that he only spoke with a Scottish accent to make women smile—the accent got its desired effect from her well, because she wasn't able to stop herself from giving him a little smile after he used it on her. Despite his impressive size and muscle mass, he was a very smart man—along with knowing, and being very fluent in English, he knew and was very fluent in several other languages.

The man, who was both her and Bile's great-great grandfather, but who was Lhaklar's, Hazaar's, and Lazeer's great-grandfather, was very nicely attired in an outfit that was very him. The dark green jacket had gold hems and pockets on it; it went to his waist on its right side while, on its other side, it stretched down to the floor. The lime green vest, that was worn under the jacket, was very shiny; the gold buttons, that were running down its front, were also quite shiny. The shirt that was under the vest was a plain white one that had long sleeves and a button-down front on it. The pair of dark green pants that he was wearing had a series of light gold buttons on their outer sides; they, like Duru's, ran down to his knees before stopping. The artichoke green ties, that were around the ends of the pant legs, were holding the pants' ends to his knees well. A pair of white slacks ran from the pant legs' ends to the man's boots, which were dark brown in color, suede made, and had their tops pulled down. She had only to look at the gold chain, that was running from one of the man's vest's pockets to the other, to know that he still carried a pocket watch that had Roman numerals on it.

"So, our dear wayward mother returns to either tell us good news or to try to pull the wool over our eyes about what happened nearly an hour ago." Cyla said.

"And what, pray tell, is your idea of "good news" with what happened between my sons?" Angel asked hotly.

"That Bile was severely punished." Cyla said.

"Bile hasn't and will not be punished," Angel said. "What happened was—"

"Come on Angel!" DuruVile yelled at the top of his lungs. "He attacked his younger, half-brother! That calls for a beating by either a belt, a stick, or a whip!"

"Angel, I do tend to agree with my father on this one." TazirVile said. "That should of gotten a punishment of some sort."

"Does his flipping out after getting a blind confirmation on a premonition that he had several days ago call for such punishment?" Angel asked.

With the way Cyla was in contradicting people, and in being fast in interrupting others, she told all of what Bile had told her quickly; after speaking of what she had learned from her son, and then showing them the articles that she had brought back from one of her trips to Earth, she waited to see what was to happen next.

Premonitions, she knew, could be scary... to one who didn't understand them, they could even be terrifying. Sometimes, they caused the ones that experienced them to act out or think that they were crazy. Premonitions were a very misunderstood phenomenon that, really, no one had a straight-forward answer to—on Earth, it was thought that spirits, or deceased folk, were the cause for them while, elsewhere in the Universe, it was thought that demonic entities created and then placed them in the minds of the ones that they wanted to torment. From time to time, she had received a premonition that revolved around an upcoming plague or natural disaster—after each one was received, she readied both herself and her children for what may or may not come; about eighty percent of the time, her given premonitions had turned out to be right, which had validated the stress that she had gotten after receiving them.

The articles made their way around the room multiple times before, finally, being returned to her; she was fast in returning them to the pocket that they had previously been in right after getting them back.

"I will say, Lass, that I was very surprised in seeing what I did after being let in." ShaamVile said. "Lhaklar leaping over that balcony railing, and Bile following right behind him, was the last thing that I was expecting to see."

"Did you explain to Bile what a premonition was?" Ashaklar asked. "That it's nothing for him to be scared of, or to get violent over?"

"Of course." Angel nodded her head. "He's already apologized to Lhaklar; think everything's fine between them now."

"I suppose that his acting out due to a premonition isn't punishable." Cheshire said. "Other than his trampling all over Lhaklar, and then knocking him off a tree, he's never acted out before, right?"

"What and what?" Angel asked.

"During the first sighting that we had of Bile and Lhaklar, Bile freaked after Tazir placed his hand on him. He turned around, then ran right into, and then over, Lhaklar. Shortly after Lhaklar climbed a tree, Bile appeared; he knocked him clear off the tree, and then into the nearby river." Ashaklar explained.

"First time that I've heard of that happening with them." Angel said. "Neither of my sons said anything about it."

"Seeing Lhaklar get run over by his brother plum scared me half to death." TazirVile admitted. "He got up fine, and looked to be moving around well, but I was still concerned about him."

"I wonder—" Angel thought about the crates that her sons had mentioned as being found on the apartment's doorstep for a second before giving her head a shake.

"You wonder what?" DuruVile asked.

"Bile and Lhaklar, a few hours after everyone made camp near Expedition Island, said something about finding some crates on the apartment's doorstep." Angel said. "There were six in all, and all were quite full of stuff that we either used or sold. They had some clothes, shoes, and food in them—we had a good meal on the six lobsters that were found in one of them."

"Ever find anything like that on your doorstep before?" Ashaklar asked.

"Maybe once or twice a year—I always thought that it was just someone paying "restitutions" to me for what I did over two thousand years ago in keeping my father from taking over the planet." Angel replied.

"Wouldn't be surprised if they took something that was just lying out and in the open up and then brought it home." ShaamVile said. A minute to two minutes of silence followed before he said anything else. "I wouldn't concern myself over it, Lass. What I figure to of happened with them crates being found on your doorstep reminds me of how me and Zaal, my older brother, use to come back from town with bags of Oysters for our mother—we, without fail, pulled the old "finders keepers" thing whenever she asked us where we got them."

After spending thirty minutes with her family, getting reacquainted with Shaam, and listening to Cyla as she ranted about how she needed to stop the constant pacifying and dish out some discipline when it was needed to be given, she got up then left the room. Most of that day was spent upstairs; she went from room to room, checking on her sons, and seeing if they needed or wanted anything, before deciding to take up residency in one of the rooms that had no owner. When meal-time came around, she went down to make herself, and her sons, a small meal; she brought what she made up, then gave it to the ones that it had been made for, then returned to the room that she had taken up residency in.

Her sons spent most of the day going from room to room; Bile and Lhaklar played the Playstation 3 after Lhaklar was fully over his shock in what happened earlier while Hazaar and Lazeer spent time in either playing the Super Nintendo or the Playstation 2. When they weren't playing the game consoles, they read magazines or listened to music or watched tv.

When time came for them to go to bed, she made her rounds in seeing if everyone was alright before going downstairs to join Tazir. He, who had spent the last few nights on his own, was overjoyed in seeing that she was to accompany him in their chamber and he was also fast in "punishing" her for "abandoning" him. Around thirty minutes to an hour of bed-play was done between them before they rolled over then went to sleep.

The clock, that was on the room's bedside table, went off at its usually set time of 6:00 the next morning; even though they groaned over having to get up, they didn't shut the clock off and then go back to sleep or pull any lip over having to get started with the day.

"You will find a court citation in the mail today for touching me." Angel said after her husband's arm wrapped around her waist.

"And so will this woman for being so beautiful and sexy." TazirVile replied. Angel felt his face being pressed into the back of her shoulder. "Luckiest man in the Universe to have you as my wife."

"Luckiest woman in the Universe to have such a fine man as my husband, and as the father of my children." Angel returned. With this being said, she turned over then kissed her husband, who was fast in returning it.

She waited until after he was out of the shower to get up and then do her morning routine; after washing herself, getting that fresh feeling that only a shower could give, she threw a towel around her body then left the bathroom.

Tazir, she saw, was on the bed; he had gotten dressed in a slate gray tuxedo—the jacket, with its twin tails on the back, was very him while the rest looked very normal for the garment that it went with—before sitting down to put his socks and then his shoes on. With her husband's location known, she went to work in getting something for herself to wear—while donning a pair of purple panties, and the bra that matched it, she remembered that her husband was prone to being "grabby" after she left the shower and then started getting dressed; with this memory in place, she moved quickly in finding something to put over the underwear that she had just put on.

The loose-fitting, black blouse, that had spaghetti straps on it, and the pair of blue jeans, that were slightly faded on the knees, had only just been put on when she was grabbed from behind; Tazir, working as fast as any husband who had just grabbed his wife would, but also being as gentle as could be with her, pulled her in close then placed his head beside her own.

"I should make you remove everything that you just put on and then get back in bed." though sounding tough, he also sounded playful, which caused her sudden tense feeling to evaporate. "Much too beautiful in anything, My Love."

"You're one to talk," Angel replied. She twisted herself around after feeling her husband's grip on her loosen then she reached her hands back. Her husband was fast in jumping after feeling her hands wrap around his rear end. "Much too handsome."

He was playful in trying to throw her to the bed, and in trying to "tear" her clothes from her; after doing these two actions, he kissed her then left the room. She decided to stick around for a while longer. After putting the jewelry set that Bile had purchased for her on the 25th of November on, then getting her hair brushed and then looking somewhat presentable, she went to feed her Sekhems.

Zeox, Exutho, and Elaye were fed their mushy combo of oatmeal, potato and vegetable hash, and fruit "salad"; while they were eating, she filled their water dishes and then set out some of the toys that she thought they'd like to play with after eating. Her pets did as they usually did after eating their meal—Elaye grabbed one of the toys, then started flinging it all over the place, while Zeox and Exutho chased one another up and then down the cat tree. She laughed at their crazy antics for all of five minutes before leaving the room; with herself dressed, and looking presentable, and with her husband being either in his office, checking the messages that had been placed last night, when they had been sleeping, or looking into the paperwork that he was to do that day, and with there being some time before the task of making breakfast for everyone needed to be done, she went to see her great-great grandfather.

Due to the events of yesterday, and to Cyla getting on her nerves, she hadn't been able to give the man a proper apology for his coming in and then finding himself as having to stop her sons from fighting. She felt bad for not apologizing to him; if allowed to, she had plans to do so now and to make-up for not doing so earlier—the man, she remembered, liked to talk to the ones that were in his family, and he seemed to be rather fond of the opportunity to speak and spend time with her too. Maybe some time with him this morning, in both listening to him talk of how he had been during her sixteen hundred year absence and in telling telling him what she had done during her time in being on Earth, would set both his and her day off right.

Shaam was such a finely mannered fellow, and he deserved every ounce of respect that one could give him; despite the fact of his being a conqueror, and, on the times that he decided to partake in finding a woman to spend an off-fling with, a womanizer, she respected him and she loved him.

She automatically knew where he was; Tazir, on the day that the man came over for his first prolonged visit, which occurred at the time that her pregnancy with Lhaklar was coming to a close, had put him in a room that was on the house's second level. Her great-great grandfather was quite fond of this room, and Tazir made an effort to have it ready for him whenever he was slated to come over for a lengthy stay—it was just two rooms from the stairwell that went up to the third level, and it was also on the hallway's left side. She went straight for that room; after going down the hallway, then stopping before the door to the room that she wanted to go to, she hesitated in stretching her arm forward to knock on it.

Shaam, while being rather nice and polite, and mellow-headed, did like his sleep and he did like for no one to disturb him during his time in trying to rest. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he preferred for everyone to stay well away from him when he was in bed. She remembered a time when, at the end of her pregnancy with Hazaar, he had snapped at Eldass for his simple action of knocking on his door and then rousing him from a sound sleep—her water had just broken, and she had been in full-blown labor at the time, and the Goblin had just been making his rounds in telling everyone that it was time for the baby to be born. The man had gotten on Eldass pretty badly for waking him up; after learning the reason to why he had been disturbed, he hadn't apologized for snapping at him. He had just thrown some clothes on and then rushed over to the room that she was in.

With it heading on 6:30 a.m., she knew that her great-great grandfather was awake... but was he awake enough to allow her to see, and speak with him without biting her head off first?

There was only one answer to that question; with a sigh, she reached forward to knock on the door of the room that was before her. After giving the door two knocks, she waited. The man that she was there to see answered the door thirty seconds later.

"Did I knock at the wrong time?" she asked after the door to the room was opened.

"No, Lass." judging by the sound of his voice, he hadn't been up for very long. He confirmed this a few seconds after answering the door. "Been up for five minutes now. I'm a bit slow in waking up today."

"Should I come back later?" she asked.

"No, come on in." ShaamVile replied. Nothing else was said between them; after he turned, then went back into the room, she followed. The door was closed behind her.

The room that she entered was very elegantly designed; the feeling that was in it was very fluid-like... but she still got the idea that the room had another feeling in it too—whenever she entered it, she felt both comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. She didn't know why but she had a feeling that this was why Shaam liked the room so much... it seemed weird but he did seem to like things that gave off that "exotic" feeling and, if she recalled correctly, he had mentioned at one time that the feeling that the room had in it was a "grand" one. The man claimed that he felt very comfortable when he was in the room—with the man being what he was, and with the room being designed in the way that it was, it definitely didn't look to match with the one that was currently occupying it.

The bar, that was in the room's far left corner, was pretty well stocked; it looked like Shaam had already "gone to town" with the beverages that were neatly stashed in the wine and beverage case, which was directly behind the bar's counter. The bucket, that was on the bar's surface, looked to have ice in it; the bottle of Ruinart Champagne, that was currently resting top-down in the bucket, looked to of had a glass to two glasses taken from it. The room's carpet was Zebra-striped—the two carpets, that were on either side of the bed, were either brown and cream striped or plain black; the white fur lining, that was on their edges, didn't look to match them.

The bed was large; it was sitting on a circular, step-like area that was made of solid marble. The sheets that were on the bed were gray while the comforter was gray and white striped. Except for the white tassels, that were on their edges, the cases that the bed's seven pillows were in matched the comforter well.

To the right of the room sat a red marble fireplace; a silver statue of a bull deer was to its right while, to its left, sat a tall candelabra. The mantle of the fireplace had three candelabras, and a garland of silver holly, on it. The statue had a series of five pillows arranged around it; she didn't need to be told that their black satin and velvet cases were expensive.

A silver marble bedside table, that had a silver lamp, and an alarm clock, on its surface, was to the bed's right; the other side of the bed was as naked of furniture as could be. The black and silver marble dresser, that was to the room's left side, had a right impressive stereo system on it; the 50" screen, that was on the wall beside the stereo, had a red and yellow frame to it that pulsated every ten to twenty seconds.

What her great-great grandfather liked most about the room, she truly believed, was the adornment that was hanging from the ceiling. The adornment was a chandelier of sorts, and it was quite delicate; the strands, that were hanging from the ceiling, and that were hanging both over and around the bed, were either gold, pearl, or silver in color.

The area that the bar was sitting on had no carpet on it; the floor that it was sitting on was pure black marble, which looked a little odd, but pretty, in the room. The marble was so shiny that one could see their reflection in it—or see that someone was trying to play the sneak-up routine on them, if that was what was going on in the room. The wallpaper, that was on the room's walls, was black and gray striped while the ceiling was a solid, dark gray color. Shaam, she remembered, had taken her husband to the side one day to ask him who it had been that had designed the room; to her recollection, he had hired that same designer and then gotten her to re-model one of the rooms that were in his house so it'd look similar to the one that he was always given when he came over for a lengthy stay.

"Give me a few minutes," ShaamVile said, jarring her from her thoughts, and from her trip down Memory Lane. "Need to grabs some wears."

She blushed after noticing that he wasn't dressed; except for the silver netted robe, which gave him very little cover, she was able to see that he was as naked as could be. His barrel-shaped chest was quite evident under his robe... so much so that she was able to see its bristly, dark red hair, that was arranged in a thin T. The muscle, and the vast amount of scarring that was on his body, could also be seen thanks to his robe not giving the cover that it should. After seeing what he was wearing, she turned; the man was given the privacy that he deserved to have right after she did so.

In all, it took just five minutes for him to get dressed and then to give her shoulder a "tap"; when she turned, she saw that he was wearing a near-identical outfit to that of what he had worn yesterday. With the exception of the jacket, vest, and pants being silver, everything resembled what he had worn yesterday. The only thing that was different about his outfit was his ear-piece—he had either been too thrilled in being able to come over to bother about putting the long, silver chain, that had a gold and silver, triangular-shaped adornment on its end, in his left ear or he had just forgotten about putting it in his ear. After being tapped on the shoulder, then turning around to see that he was dressed, she nodded her head.

"Thank you for waiting." he said after her head was nodded.

"Wasn't able to apologize for your coming in here and then finding yourself as having to break up a fight between my sons." instead of dilly-dallying around, she got down to business in doing what she wanted to do. "My sons don't usually act that way. They get along rather well, and are rather close to one an—"

"Say no more, Lass. They're lads—the occasional fight will happen with them." ShaamVile said. "Seeing them fight like that brought back memories of how me and Zaal use to fight, and on how our father use to always be the one to break us up and then get us straight afterwards."

"I've been getting a lot of flak lately for how I've been raising my sons—just wanted to offer an apology on how your entrance was." Angel said.

"My daughter-in-law does have a rather flappy mouth," ShaamVile, who had an idea on what she was saying, said. Angel blinked her eyes after he said this; never had he spoken like that of Cyla. This was rather new and shocking to her. "During supper last night, she spoke of how you're still letting the Lads nurse from you, and about the hobbies that you let them do."

"As long as I'm still producing milk, they'll get it." Angel said. Since she knew it was coming, she set her jaw then got ready to defend the action that most everyone seemed to be harking on her about.

"I have a slight issue with the nursing thing. The hobbies that they're doing, on the other hand, I have nothing against." ShaamVile confessed. "You do know that they have strong blood in them, right? Surfeit blood."

"Yes."

"Good. And, due to that good blood, they don't need any further nutrients from the milk that you're producing. They're fine without it."

"As long as I'm still producing milk they will continue to get it." Angel repeated firmly.

"Lass, let me ask you something. You listening?"

Before he even started, she knew that he was about to run out a lecture on when it was appropriate for one's young to be weaned of the sustenance that they gave them and on "how much" of that sustenance should be given when it was deemed "appropriate" for the child to take it. He, much like Tazir, bred and kept horses and, much like Tazir, he weaned his horses when they reached six months of age; while what he was telling her she knew was true—the milk provided by a mare had no real value in it for the foal that was over six months of age—she stuck firm to her notion in her continuing as she was in letting her sons have her milk. Her sons weren't horses, and they were still growing and maturing, so they did need what she was providing for them.

She let the man talk; she nodded her head, agreed just to agree with him then, after he was done, she let him be for a few minutes before diving in on another subject that she wanted to speak with him about.

"I'd also like to apologize for having slowed up your life." the man, who's back was turned to her, stood up straight after these words were said. She cleared her throat after he turned to look at her then she said, "According to Cyla, you couldn't be you after I left. Sorry about that."

"Lass, I wasn't myself for a reason, which you should know the name and cause of." ShaamVile responded. "You think I'm going to go around, acting like my old self, when several members of my family are missing?"

"No, but—"

"No buts, Angel. You and your sons are a part of my family, I love you five like crazy." ShaamVile said. "You had a reason to leave anyways so why are you apologizing?"

"The bachelor thing."

"Oooooh." ShaamVile laughed awkwardly. "I can't say that I've been a bachelor for all of the sixteen hundred years that you and your sons were missing, Lass. I did date, but I wasn't fully in it."

"Because of me and my sons."

"Correct—you five were all that I could think of... you were thick in my heart and mind, and you still are, Lass. It's how it should be." ShaamVile said while coming towards her. After reaching her, he placed his hand on her shoulder. "I have plenty of time to find another Lass to be with—I'm forever, remember?"

"I do, yes." Angel nodded her head. "You still interested in having more kids?"

That was a stupid question—of course he was still interested in having more kids! Unlike his son, who wanted no hint of the question asked to him, he was very open to being asked about his interest in having more children and he was also very loud in saying that he wanted to be with someone and then have a few kids with that someone. Shaam, despite being in his three hundred thousands, was very virile—he had gone to get himself tested right after Hazaar was born; nearly a million wigglers had been noted in his ejaculate, so he was ripe and ready... he just needed to find someone to be steady with to make use of what his sacks were making for him.

She remembered a time where he had told her that he had a small issue in creating more children—like Tazir, he didn't just want to meet someone that wasn't meant for him or that wasn't interested in what he was interested in, which was a steady relationship and adding children to their lives. He was also concerned about how his soon-to-be partner perceived his family—Shaam was a big family man, and he wanted his family's respect to be honored, and he also wanted his family to get along with the one that he chose to be with. With his relationship being as thick as it was with Duru, he was also worried about how the potential parent-in-law was going to get along with his son.

After Shaam answered her question on his still wanting to have more children, she decided to keep her mouth shut on what she knew on how his only son didn't want any siblings; she ended the conversation that they were having, then she excused herself, then she went down to the smaller of the house's kitchens. Breakfast, on that morning, was swiftly put together by both her and Ulision Volvio.

"Mornin' ma." Bile said after walking into the kitchen. After seeing that she was sitting by the kitchen island, he went to her. The hug and kiss that he gave her was quickly given before he sat on the stool that was beside the one that she was sitting on.

"You feeling alright?" Angel asked her son.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Bile asked.

"Just asking—the hug that you gave me wasn't as warm as the ones that you usually give—"

"I'll change that now."

The plan had been to "throw her off" by giving her a quick hug and kiss before sitting down; it looked like she had taken the bait that he had placed before her. After being asked about the initial hug that he had given her, he stood up then gave her the real-deal hug and kiss that he had been holding in—his mother laughed as he lifted her from the stool that she was sitting on, and as he "saturated" her cheeks with kiss after kiss. He had no more placed her back on the stool that he had taken her from when Hazaar and Lazeer entered the room; they took turns in imitating what he had done in "lifting" her from the stool and in "saturating" her cheeks with kisses before backing off. Lhaklar, when he came into the room, just gave the usual hug and kiss that he was known to give to their mother—unlike Hazaar and Lazeer, who he had apologized to last morning, and who were acting very much like their old selves, Lhaklar was acting very reserved that morning.

After noticing that his brother was acting very stiff, and very reserved, that morning, he went towards the fridge; one of the bottles, that contained his mother's milk inside, were taken out, then a glass from one of the cabinets was taken down, then he went to the island. While pouring his brother a glass of milk, he noted the physical injuries that he had caused on him.

The flesh around Lhaklar's left eye was a very dark green color; the holes that were his nose had very dark green rings around them too. Along with the bruised eye and nose, Lhaklar was also sporting a bruised right cheek. The bruises, that were on his neck, were grotesquely horrible! All of these meshed in well with the heavy bags that were present under his brother's eyes—Lhaklar, it did seem, hadn't had a good go in sleeping last night.

Seeing his brother in such a state made him feel horrible; he felt guilty all over again. After pouring the glass of milk, he slid the glass to his brother then walked the bottle back to the fridge. Lhaklar muttered his thanks before taking a sip from the glass that he had been given; he took one to two more sips of the milk before placing the glass on the island's top.

"If I could take it back, Lhakie, I would." Bile said sorrowfully. "I'm really, really sorry for what I caused you to go through yesterday."

"Don't worry about it." Lhaklar mumbled. "I've already forgiven you, so there's no need for you to continue apologizing to me."

"Want me to be the Brother Slave today?" whenever he did something to one of his brothers that caused them grief, he always asked if they wanted him to act as their slave or personal helper the following day.

"No." Lhaklar replied. "I'm fine, just sore."

"After what Bile did to you, I guess you would be." Hazaar said.

"New hairstyle, Hazaar?" Bile asked after seeing that Hazaar's rattail consisted of four braided strands that had four oddly colored feathers embedded in them.

"Just trying out the new feathers that the old man surprised me with two days ago." Hazaar replied. In truth, after seeing the odd, red/orange/pink colored feathers, he hadn't liked them; like with the color-changing beads, he was only putting them in his hair as a way to not upset his father.

"Too bad you don't have a full head of hair." Bile said. He was fast in retracting what he had just said. "Actually, let's be glad that you don't. We'd be seeing you walking around with having all of it braided, or with half being beaded or feathered u—"

"I prefer my one rattail, thank you." Hazaar said. After saying that, he turned to look at Lazeer. "Just too damn bad that you don't have more hair than you do—the women _swoon_ over me, and my hair, while they barely notice you and yours."

"At least I don't have to worry about one of my brother's doing the sneak-up routine with a pair of scissors." Lazeer winked.

"You even consider doing that and you'll find yourself as having no teeth in your mouth." Hazaar warned.

"Snip snip, oop, where's my hair?" Lazeer mocked Hazaar. "Ahhhh! Someone stole my hair! Someone stole my single lock of hair! That was my baby!"

"You're pathetic!" Hazaar exclaimed.

"I have a mohawk—I can afford to be pathetic. What's your excuse?" the corners of Lazeer's O-shaped mouth curved up as he gave his brother a mock-like smile.

Most of her sons were very energetic that morning—Lazeer was constantly saying jokes, and making mock threats to Hazaar; Hazaar was constantly lunging at, and throwing mock fists at Lazeer; and Bile kept "throwing the punches" on his getting more girls than his brothers did. She found herself as telling her sons to pipe down after five minutes passed. At around the time that they were calm, and at around the time that Lhaklar's glass of milk was emptied of its contents, her husband came into the room. He gestured for three of the nearby butlers to come to the room, then he told them to take up the trays and dishes, that were on the room's counter-tops, then he gestured for them to stand up and then follow him.

The trek to the dining room was a slow one; Tazir had to turn more than once to "help" her in getting control of her overly rambunctious sons and he also had to stop to see if the three butlers were doing as he had told them to do. Once they were at the table, they sat down then waited for their cue in starting in on breakfast. The three butlers placed the trays and dishes on the table then disappeared; Tazir, as usual, was the one to lift all of their lids. Everyone started making themselves a plate after the lids to the table's various items were lifted.

"Bile's a rather big Lad, Angel." ShaamVile said after filling his plate. The vanilla pancake, that was on his plate, looked rather "small" among the other items—the three bacon, cheese, and ham-stuffed Italian Calzones; the two Pancetta egg cups; and the two German sausage balls—that were either on or to either side of it. "Bigger than I was when I was his age."

"We've been trying to get him, and his brothers, to not eat as much as they do—Bile eats as much as a grown man does, and he also uses the gym too much for our liking." Cyla was fast in saying.

"How many times does he go to the gym?" ShaamVile asked.

"Two... maybe three times a day." Cyla answered.

"Need to slow up, Lad. For one of your age, the act of gaining too much muscle isn't good or healthy." ShaamVile said. Bile sighed—instead of accepting him for who he was, here was yet another who thought that he was too big and overly muscled for his age.

"Lhaklar is the same way," Cyla said. "He uses the gym twice a day."

"He looks a bit thin to me," ShaamVile said. "Or are my eyes playing tricks on me?"

"He's very athletically built." Angel said. "He's not thin."

"He's very nicely muscled; there's no fat on his body at all." TazirVile said.

"And Hazaar and Lazeer?" ShaamVile asked.

"They possess good, hard, lean bodies that have good, firm muscle on them." TazirVile answered before Angel could.

They said nothing as the man named Shaam spoke his mind on their appearance and, of course, on what they were wearing.

Bile saw nothing wrong with what he was wearing—the black shirt was lacking both of its sleeves, and had its usual rip in the chest area, while the pants, which were a dark gray color, were non-ripped or torn; the pair of dark brown boots, that were on his feet, had the signs of one having used them but they were holding up well to the task of the wearer so he saw no issue in them. The only thing that was "different" about him that morning was the necklace that was worn around his neck—the man that he had gotten the necklace from had said that the teeth came from a Sperm whale; while he knew nothing about Sperm whales, or about what their teeth looked like, he did know that he liked the necklace and that he was glad to be wearing it.

His mother was fast in giving his ankle a slight tap after their great-great grandfather said something about the shirt, and the necklace, that he was wearing; seeing as he was to speak none on what was being said of his attire, he kept his mouth shut. He went on in eating his breakfast after feeling his ankle being tapped.

Shaam didn't just having something negative to say about his clothes; after speaking on his shirt and necklace, he turned his attention to what his brothers were wearing. Lazeer was wearing his usual—a black mesh shirt, and a pair of pants that were very badly ripped in the knee areas; the brown and gray shoes, that were on his feet, were nothing out of the ordinary—and so was Hazaar, who was wearing a blue t-shirt, which was tucked into a pair of light brown pants, that were faded from the knee on down, and his usual pair of shoes that, except for the laces, which were a light brown color, were brown.

Bile grew particularly tired of the man after he said something against Lhaklar's clothing; Lhaklar, who was wearing a plain green, long sleeve, button down shirt, light green formal pants, and brown shoes, said nothing for the longest of time. He stared at his plate throughout the verbal exchange and pick-on that was being thrown in his direction before, finally, opening his mouth. His, and Hazaar and Lazeer's, mouths dropped after he spoke to the man.

"At least my brothers and I aren't dressed like a fuckin' pirate, or like someone from the colonial days."

"Lhaklar!" their mother exclaimed.

Before anyone could get up, or say a word to her son, she stood from her chair then whapped the one who had just run his mouth in the back of the head; when her son stood from his chair, then started ranting at her, she grabbed the kerchief, that was hanging from the right-side pocket of Tazir's pants, then used it on him. After her son continued to disobey her in running his mouth, and didn't reclaim the seat that he had just gotten up from, she grabbed him by his shoulders then shoved him from the room. She followed after him after he was out of the room.

Bile, after his mother and brother were out of the room, looked at Lazeer; when he saw the ghost of a joke forming on his brother's lips, he made a slashing motion under his chin—having one brother being disciplined, and then removed from the room was bad enough. Having another getting the same thing would be worse, and, he bet, would get a better than "fine" reaction out of the ones who thought they knew it all on parenting.

Lazeer, who was able to see his given motion, didn't seem to get the meaning of what he was implying; he opened his mouth, then said _and there goes "cloth" whapping number one of the day. He usually gets five to ten more before being sent to clean the gutters and yard_. Their mother, who had obviously been close enough to the dining room to hear his outburst, came into the room then promptly removed Lazeer from his chair. Like with Lhaklar, she shoved him from the room then followed after him. Bile, and his only remaining younger brother, guessed that the two would be grounded for either a few hours, a few days, or a few weeks. When Bile looked to his left, he saw that his adoptive father looked rather miffed—it almost looked like he was upset over having his chance in disciplining one or more of them being stolen from him.

Their mother, when she returned to the room, was fast in gathering the items Lhaklar and Lazeer had either eaten with or on; she took them from the room, then was gone for nearly five minutes, then returned. After returning to the room, she re-took her seat beside him; judging by the way she sat down, he guessed that she wasn't in the best of best of moods.

"Now, does anyone else wish to be disrespectful this morning?" Angel asked her two remaining sons.

"No, ma." Bile was fast in saying.

"No, momma." Hazaar said before looking down at his plate.

"Good. Eat your breakfast, and keep your mouths shut."

"Very impressive, Lass." ShaamVile said. "But, if I may, you was a bit too light on Lhaklar."

"I will not be using any sort of belt, whip, or other disciplinary weapon on my sons." Angel said.

"Lass, when one has sons, it's best to use strength over gentleness." ShaamVile said. "Sons, more so than daughters, will walk all over one when given the chance to do so."

"Must be true on what he says—not once has Eshal tried to get one over on me." TazirVile said.

"The Lads will still love you regardless of what disciplinary items you use on them to keep them in line." ShaamVile said.

Before she could re-voice her firm standing on the issue of her not using any disciplinary weapons on her sons, and before she could turn to give Tazir a look for his looking to be agreeing with what his grandfather had said, Losal walked into the room. She watched as the Goblin strode up to her husband, then she listened as her husband and the Goblin spoke, then she grew a tinge tense after hearing the words _brother_ , _family_ , and _here_ —judging by them three words being said, she guessed that her grandparents, and their three kids, had arrived for their stay.

After hearing that her grandparents, and some of their children, were in the building, Angel decided to do an early conclusion to her session in the room. With her being as tense as she was, and with her having just evicted, and grounded, Lhaklar and Lazeer for most of the morning, she felt a need to collect her pet Sekhems and then take them to the room that she had been allowed to design for them.

Luck, on her end, wasn't with her that morning; she had only just finished her breakfast, and had just gathered herself to stand from her chair, when her great-grandfather started talking.

"Remember the lizards and monkeys that you helped me in getting a few thousand years ago, Girl?"

"Yeah," she knew what he was asking her about—one day, after she, and Bile and Lhaklar, had been retrieved from Earth, and then forced into staying with her grandparents for three weeks, he had gotten the idea about taking her to Earth and then spending some time with her to get a better understanding and, most importantly, relationship with her. After teleporting to Earth, he and she—er, really she, since he hadn't really been all that grand a help—had done some searching for some Jackson's Chameleons, Centralian blue-tongued skinks, and Draco volans, or Flying Lizards, as they were sometimes called by the people who called Earth home. Along with "helping" him in acquiring some of them three species, she had also found and then caught a black Blue-tongue skink and several Mini-pygmy lemurs for him too. At the time of her leaving Moas with her sons, he had still owned them lizards and monkeys.

"I still have them." DuruVile said. His deep, booming voice had a very present proud tone to it.

"Monkeys and lizards? My grandfather has both monkeys and lizards as pets?" Hazaar was thinking. "I have one hell of a weird family! A father that likes bats, Platypuses, and fish and a grandfather that likes monkeys and lizards. What else will I find out about my weird ass family?"

"Still have the Augrabies flat lizards that I caught for you as well?" Angel asked.

"I've had a time with them beasts! They breed like crazy, and the black ones keep popping out rainbow babies." DuruVile made a face. "Seeing as my wife is fond of the rainbows, as I call them, I've kept a few for her. I've only seen fifty to a hundred black babies hatch from the eggs that come from the ones you helped me in acquiring."

"And the Red-eyed crocodile skinks?"

"He has pah-lenty of them!" Cyla said loudly. "You said that he might not see any babies being born from them. Seems that whenever he goes into his lizard room he finds eggs in their cage... and they're always fertile!"

Unlike Tazir, who she hadn't had all that much trouble in persuading to Earth to look into the planet's bat and fish species, she had had a time in getting her great-grandfather to tag along with her to look for species of lizards and monkeys for his collection—she had tried to get him to go on the day of his birthday, then she had tried on a date that she knew was important to him, then she had just tried to get him to go on any old day that sprung up where he wasn't overly busy in doing anything. The man, despite her attempts in persuading him to the planet, had shot most of her attempts down—in all, it had taken two hundred years before he finally relented in saying yes and in following her to Earth.

Ten rare, black Augrabies flat lizards had been caught on the first trip that she and he took—usually, the females of that species of lizard were mostly dark brown in color, and had three, thick, cream stripes running down their backs, while the males were usually more vibrantly colored; to find them ten black Augrabies had been a shock to both of them. After them ten lizards were caught, and then shown to the man, he had smiled, then had thanked her, then had grabbed and then teleported them back to Gamma Vile—she had been forced to wait-it-out in his lizard room while he got his new pets' cage fixed up before being allowed to go home to her husband and children.

On the second trip, which occurred twenty years later, she had found and then caught ten Abronia graminea, or Mexican alligator lizards, for him; he had been agasp at their green, or blue, skin coloration, and in the fact that they resembled little alligators—unlike the first trip, where he had done very little in helping her in finding him his new lizards, he had helped in finding lizard #5 and 9 of his collection. Due to his not saying anything on his still having them, she wasn't sure if he still had them in his collection or not—he had had around thirty to thirty-five at the time of her "taking off" with her sons.

After the second trip was done, she hadn't tried to persuade him to go to Earth with her again; instead, she had done some research and then gone to the planet to find and then capture what she thought he'd like for his collection. Fifty years after helping him in acquiring his Mexican alligator lizards, she had found and then caught ten Red-eyed crocodile skinks for him—except for the red ring, that was around the animal's eyes, they were completely black; the skin texture, and the rows of pointy, rigid, bone-like scales, that were on their back and tail, had been the cause of the lizard being given its name. The ten individuals that she had slaved to find and then catch for him had been given to him as a birthday present almost immediately after the trip was made.

The species of monkeys that she had tried to turn his attention towards hadn't hit it off well with him; all of the trips that he and she had partaked in, and that she had solo-done, had been based on the acquiring of the lizards.

"They have yet to discover the Mini-pygmy lemur." Angel said. "Good thing too—if they had, the species might not be around anymore."

"Those mini-monkeys are rather cute." Cyla said. "Both Uevaa and I can't get enough of them."

"They have their favorites. Naturally, I like all of them." DuruVile said.

"Still have Brakol and Tuclo?" Angel asked.

"Oh yes, most definitely! I've had them for a very long time—as you know, they were given the Ever-Life potion almost immediately after I acquired them, so I'll have them... forever." DuruVile answered. "Cyla still has all of her cats, too."

"Do you still have Argiser and Datzav, Grampy?" Angel asked ShaamVile.

"Yes, Lass. And they still drive my staff crazy with their screaming. Like my son did for his pets, they've also been given the Ever-Life potion, so I'll have them for a very long time to come." ShaamVile replied. Argiser and Datzav were his two White cockatoo's; about fifty years after being returned from Limbo, he had acquired their eggs. He, and he alone, was their primary caregiver; after their hatching day, he had done all that he could for them.

"Did you ever acquire any Palm cockatoos?" Angel asked. The bird that she had just referenced was an Earth-based species; it was either a smoky gray or black bird that's red cheeks changed colors after it got excited or alarmed.

"No, I'm quite happy with Argiser and Datzav." ShaamVile replied. "And, of course, I'm also quite content with my three dogs and two cats."

"You going to start using the word Arrrgh now, buddy?" Hazaar thought. "I agree with Lhaklar—you dress like a friggin' pirate, and you have Cockatoo's!"

"Didn't you have some fish at one time?" Angel asked. "Some Koi or—"

"The pond is still located behind my property, Lass—right between the garden and outdoor court. The fish are still kept in it—though I find myself as having to re-stock the population after each cold season comes to a close."

When the low, croaky voice was heard, Duru got up then excused himself; he was gone from the room for a total of two minutes before returning—upon his return, he had a man with him. Bile, who knew well who the man was, eyed him while Hazaar, who was only half aware of who he was, slid into the chair that Lhaklar had formerly sat in. Angel, despite her still present tension, stood from her chair then went towards the man who was her and her oldest son's grandfather.

"Who's this—my granddaughter, or some other lovely woman who looks eerily like her?" the man, KurukVile Shonsinu Surfeit, asked after Angel stopped before him.

"Last time I checked my tags, I do carry your blood in my veins." Angel replied.

"Good girl!" KurukVile said. After saying this, he grabbed Angel up in a great big ol' hug. "I have missed you pretty damn greatly, Angel."


	21. Chapter 21

The sounds that the birds were making were quite loud; due to the living room windows being open, they could hear every note that was given by the strange, avian life that called the planet home. On occasion, they'd see one or two of the music-playing birds—due to the reporters, that seemed to be the front fence and gate's constant companions, and due to a portion of their family being in the room, they weren't able to go to the windows or look out them or even take in what the mid-day looked like. Getting use to the new arrivals—both Shaam and their uncle and aunt, and their three kids—had taken up most of what they had done for the last few days. Introductions with their uncle had been a little hairy while introductions with their aunt had been very uncomfortable—the man had simply looked at them, smiled, then stuck out his hand for them to shake; the woman, on the other hand, had grabbed and then "squeezed" them in a sort of hug that they had done their best to return in the best of polite, and delicate, ways. Introductions with the two's kids had gone a little smoother than the introductions that occurred after Gaajah, Uevaa, and Selik arrived with their parents—no bullying happened between them and the three kids of their aunt and uncle's... on the first day, that was. On the day that followed Uncle Kuruk, and his wife and children's, arrival, Baruk had "banded" together with Gaajah while Selik had "banded" together with Sudir; Baruk and Gaajah seemed to be more focused on Bile and he while Selik and Sudir seemed to be more focused on Hazaar and Lazeer.

Other than the usual of fighting the new bullies on the block off, nothing really interesting occurred on the twenty-second and twenty-third of December; things had "mellowed" out for them on the twenty-first—they had been both relieved and unnerved by the "mellow" way of that day, but they hadn't voiced this. In a way, they had known that the storm was brewing and that the "good times" of being left alone would end and soon—which they had on the morning of December 22.

"Lunch was quite appeasing, Angel." KurukVile said, shattering the quiet air that was present in the room. "Enjoyed them burnt sandwiches that you made."

"Made with you in mind, Granddad." Angel said. She hadn't had to put all that much effort in on burning the assortment of grilled cheese sandwiches, that her grandfather had done more than feast on, but she had still tried her best to "cater" to his peculiar taste buds. She was glad that he liked all that she had made for lunch.

"The tomato-onion soup, that was in that one dish, was rather well-done." Irka said. "You make that?"

"No, that was made by Mr. Volvio."

"Who?"

"The chef who works the house's bigger kitchen." TazirVile said before his wife could.

"Really liked that red drink, that was in that one pitcher, ma." Bile said.

"Yeah, but think the girls preferred the chocolate drink that was in the other pitcher." Lhaklar said.

"Thought I'd make something for everyone—the Italian Cherry Cream Soda was the more difficult of the two to make while the Chocolate Ice Cream Soda was much easier to make." Angel said.

"Honestly, I wasn't very favoring towards them two beverages—they were too sweet, Girl." DuruVile said.

Lunch was twenty minutes past—with the way his great-grandfather was, he wasn't surprised over his finding something "wrong" with the meal that they had eaten. His, and his brothers', mother had done a lot to ensure that everyone was happy; she had been doing this for the last two days and, so far, she was always getting negative or near-negative feedback on what was made and then placed on the table.

The tomato-onion soup, while having been made by Mr. Volvio, had been specifically requested to be made for Shaam—the man seemed rather fond of that type of disgust. The three pizzas—one that had anchovies on it while the other two had been cheese and sausage and cheese and pepperoni—had been made by his ma; she had wanted something on the table that all of the kids would enjoy and she had figured that a few pizzas would suffice that. The Ma-Po tofu had also been made by their mother—apparently, his and his mother's grandparents liked the taste of that crap and, apparently, so does Baruk. Baruk had eaten nearly two bowls of that Ma-Po tofu before deciding to "give that item" a rest. The three trays of grilled cheese sandwiches, each having a different degree of cooked sandwiches on them, had been for everyone—er, or maybe the "normal" cooked grilled cheese sandwiches had been; he and his brothers, and Eshal, had mostly concerned themselves with the regular grilled cheese sandwiches while his grandfather and great-grandfather had concerned themselves with either the burned to a crisp sandwiches or with the barely cooked sandwiches.

While his, and his ma's, grandfather had made himself a glass that consisted of all of the table's beverages—the Italian cherry cream soda, the chocolate ice cream soda, and the plain lemonade—Duru had made a single glass of the Italian cherry cream soda; the man mustn't be all that favoring towards sweet-tasting drinks, or like anything that was sweet, because he had taken a real long time in emptying that glass of its contents. In comparison to him, most everyone had taken two to three glassfuls of their preferred beverage down before vacating the table.

"By the time me and mine leave here, my kid's will have a laundry list of things for my wife to make for them come time for meal-hour." Cheshire, who was seated on the sectional, and who, despite "restricting" himself to a few, normal-made grilled cheese sandwiches, and a single bowl of tomato-onion soup, had said nothing adverse about the recent meal that they had eaten, said.

"It was a very good meal, Angel. You and Mr. Volvio did wonders with all that you made." TazirVile said.

Either it was an on-cue thing or Cyla was just waiting like a coiled snake; once the word was said on how good the meal was, and once their mother, and Mr. Volvio, were praised for their skills in the kitchen, "Granmma Cyla" spoke.

"She usually keeps the quantity of what she makes for lunch down," the woman said. "From what me and my husband have seen, she goes overboard during breakfast and supper hour."

"Makes enough for an army." DuruVile added.

"Probably because there _is_ an army here." KurukVile said. "For the last few days, a total of twenty-seven people have taken up residence at the table. That, in my mind, is an army."

"Thank you for saying the obvious to Mr. and Mrs. I-Think-I-Know-It-All." Cheshire said. "Your parents, Kuruk, are under the assumption that they can come in here and start molding Angel into their version of what a parent is."

"For the record, Mr. Ubalki, we're trying to help her in getting them in line." Cyla, who sounded rather aggravated with Cheshire, said after hearing what she had just heard.

"From my _personal_ opinion, Angel seems to of done a very exceptional job in raising her sons." Cheshire said. "I see four well-behaved boys."

"I take it that you've forgotten what Lhaklar said to both my father-in-law and husband on the morning of the twenty-first?" Cyla was fast in craning her neck to its full length; she glared at Lhaklar, then she glared at Cheshire, then she dropped her neck to its appropriate length.

"No, and, from what I've heard, he apologized for what he said to the two of them." Cheshire replied. He let that sink in before saying, "Honestly, who wouldn't say something like what he said? His and his brothers' dress-sense was being insulted, and they were being insulted. He was simply speaking his mind and defending himself and his brothers."

"It was highly disrespectable." Cyla pointed out.

"And, since I've said it twice before I will say it once again, Madame, he apologized for what he said, and, for the record, what your husband and father-in-law were saying in accord to him and his brothers was of equal disrespect." Cheshire responded.

As the mild silence commenced in the room, he thought about the happenings of the morning of December 21. It had taken a short while before his, and his mother's, grandparents, and their three kids, were done in unpacking their things; Kuruk had, apparently, not been able to fathom the idea of "forgetting" that they were in the house. Instead of following Mr. Khrelan to the fifth level, and then getting started on the task of unpacking, he had broken his neck in going to the house's dining room—only after giving ma a hug, then a kiss, then saying how much he had "missed" her, had he gone to the room that he and his wife had been given to stay in. He and Hazaar had, for the most part, stayed on the house's first level after the man, and his family, were known as being in the house—it had taken a lot of courage to venture to the house's third level; by the time that they had reached the rooms that were theirs, their brothers had been allowed to move about the house more freely.

Lhaklar and Lazeer had been given a morning-long grounding for what they had said while being at the table; while Lazeer had been required to apologize for his one outburst to the ones that had already been present in the house—the Ubalki's, Duru and his family, Qeeta, and Shaam—Lhaklar had been required to search out and then do a personal apology to Duru and Shaam for what he had said in regards to the way they clothed themselves. Lhaklar had also been required to apologize to the old man for being so rude at the table. After all of the apologizing was done, Lhaklar had found himself as having a sort of "guest" waiting for him by his bedroom—Granddad Cheshire, who had been half-so leaning against the room's door-frame, had spoken to him, and had offered him some words of "advice", before asking if they could spend some time together.

Lhaklar, who hadn't known how to react to the question, much less put an answer on what they could do after saying yes, had suggested that they play the Playstation 3 for a while; Granddad Cheshire, while taking a while to get use to the game console's controller, had played Rapala Tournament Fishing with him for around thirty minutes before suggesting that they play Capela's Big Game Hunter. According to Lhaklar, he hadn't acted in any way, shape, or form annoyed in playing the games nor had rushed the time in playing the two games that they had played. In all, it had taken two hours before the man was seen as leaving his brother's room—he had looked pretty happy upon that exit, so he thought that he was pleased with the time that he had spent with his brother.

Lazeer, after giving his apologies to the folk that he had disrespected that morning, had spent some time in the house's gym before moving on to one of the house's game rooms; he had only just reached the third level, and then started down its hallway, when he happened upon Kuruk and Irka. Kuruk had done the hand-shake thing while Irka had "hugged" him—according to Lazeer, he had felt very weird while receiving that hug, which had been both bone-crunching, yet a little reserved, at the same time. After meeting the two, and then being hassled into meeting their kids, he had gone to his bedroom—up to 3 p.m., that was where he remained.

"Is it me or does Lhaklar look non-changed since we saw him last? It doesn't look like he's filled out any, which concerns me." it was now Irka's turn to break the room's silence.

The woman, who had just spoken, looked very feminine and fragile; unlike everyone else, who had flesh covering their bodies, she looked to be completely skeletal in appearance. The bones in her bone-like body were either dark purple or black in color. She was very petite—her hips were very nicely rounded, her waist was nice and trim, and her breasts were quite "showy" under the top of her outfit. The face that she possessed had no eyes, lips, or ears on it; her hair was about waist-long, light blue in color, and crystallized. The fingernails that she possessed were manicured—with the exception of theirs tops, which were opaque, they were a medium-purple color.

Irka Surfeit, who had been born under the name of Shaiden, and who was of the Sketon people, was wearing a slightly odd outfit—the purple dress, which looked normal in all attributes, was quite tight around her breasts, which were pyramid-like in shape; the belt that was around its waist was white and had stud-like spikes on its center. The pair of purple boots, that had black heels on them and that were on her feet, also had stud-like spikes on them. The only piece of jewelry that she wore was on the second to last finger of her left hand; the ring had a purple diamond on it, which was surrounded by a row of normal diamonds—he, and his brothers, had been fast in thinking that this was her wedding ring. Of the items that she was wearing, it was the spiked belt and boots that gave her outfit a bit of a weird feeling—why was the belt white and why did it and the boots have spikes on them? If it had been them wearing the outfit, and if they had been girls instead of boys, they would of worn a black belt that had no spikes on it. That went double on the boots, too.

Irka, who had been mildly interested in joining with Cyla in "picking" on them and their mother, was giving his mother a look that he didn't much like—after entering the room, ma had taken to sit on the arm of the chair that the old man, aka her husband, was sitting on. Irka had been fast in saying that she shouldn't sit on the chair in that way and she had also been fast in chiding both his mother and adoptive father after they said that they didn't mind sitting in the way that they were.

"It doesn't take much for me to notice that you two've done nothing about Bile, or Hazaar, either. Bile's still too big for his age and Hazaar is still the same height that he was when we last saw him." Irka said to his parents after no one replied to her question.

"Have you noticed how many times Bile, and his brothers, use the gym? For me and my husband, and Shaam, I'm sure, they use the gym too much for our liking." Cyla was fast in saying. Before getting an answer to her question, she said, "Bile's seen as being in the gym two to three times a day while Lhaklar's seen as being in the gym twice a day. Neither have an ounce of fat on them and, no, Hazaar hasn't grown any since being returned here."

"I'm only going to say this once," Angel said after sighing. "All of my children are healthy, and are happy with the way they look."

"Lhaklar looks much like a pencil, Lass." ShaamVile commented. After hearing a sound from behind him, he turned then gave Lhaklar, who was sitting almost directly behind him, a look. "I apologize, Lad, but it's the truth. You've got a thin body that's—"

"He's athletically built." QeetaVile, who was sitting on the couch opposite the one that her father, brother, and grandfather were sitting on, remarked. "He looks very much like his father."

"At his age, the way that his body is formed in isn't good, or healthy." DuruVile said. "Tazir didn't gain the height that Lhaklar has until he reached twenty-four hundred years of age, and he didn't gain any sort of noticeable muscle on his body until reaching the age of twenty-eight hundred years either."

"Everybody matures differently, Granpappy." Angel said. "No one child matures the same as the other."

"Very well said, Angel." Ashaklar said. "I said the same to Duru when he started ranting about how little Tazir was maturing when he was a child." after saying this, she started imitating all that was said between her and her then-husband in regards to his comparing Kuruk and Tazir during Tazir's growing-up years. " 'Kuruk was much bigger and stronger when he was three hundred and twenty years old', 'Kuruk was faster, and much stronger and wiser, at seven hundred and fifty-four years of age', 'Kuruk was—"

"Woman, are you going to trudge up fights that we had when you was a Surfeit wife?" DuruVile was rubbing his brow. "Regardless of how "different" each child matures, Surfeit children go by a schedule. Angel's sons are way over schedule—they're either too tall, and have too much muscle on them, or they're too short."

"I do tend to agree with my father on what he just said, Angel." KurukVile said.

KurukVile Shonsinu Surfeit was the man's actual, full name; in regards to his family, and to the ones that knew him, he was known as plain Kuruk, though. The man was more than just plain big and burly—his body was very heavily stacked with more than enough muscle; the veins, that crossed over the muscle that was on his arms, stuck out quite prominently. With his being six foot, four inches tall, the man practically dwarfed his wife, who stood a petite, five foot, four inches. Like with his father and grandfather, he was bi-colored—the left side of his head and body was red while the right side of his head and body was white; the stress wrinkles, that were present on both sides of his head, were darker than their counterparts. The man's elongated ears went only half the length of his shoulders; with the exception of the red, Tiger-like stripes, that were on them, they were a gold color. His long, and sharp, fingernails were a strange purple color, which, to them, didn't seem to match with the colors of his body. The eyes, that were in the man's face, were a fiery red color; the pupils that were in their centers were black and beady.

In a way, Lazeer, who was currently upstairs, playing a video game with Hazaar and Phaggo, was terrified of the man—with the man being as big as he was, and with his eyes looking to have a sense of danger in them, and with this being Lazeer's first time in actually seeing him, this notion, for him, was correct in being felt. Lazeer, after meeting the man, had been fast in thinking that he weighed over three hundred pounds—with the man having as much muscle as he did, they wouldn't be surprised if he did weigh over that.

Kuruk was wearing a gold and red tunic; the belt, that was around his waist, was a dark gold color. His pants were a very dark gold color while the boots, that were on his feet, were black. He had no jewelry, not even a wedding band, on his person.

Unlike his wife, who was mildly interested in making the daytime hours, for them, be miserable with her "colorful" rhetoric, he seemed to have a more reserved attitude to himself. They had yet to "cross paths" with him so they really had no opinion on him—but they, and their mother, they presumed, were keeping a good eye on him just in case he did turn into being like Cyla and Irka. With the man being as big as he was, it was quite easy for them to think that, when he did go off, he caused either harm to a building or to the people that were around him.

"Just for confirmation purposes, Hazaar is going through that phase, right?" Irka asked after another round of silence commenced in the room. While the family had been at lunch, Hazaar had been a little mouthy towards her, Cyla, and Selik and Sudir.

"Yes. Both he and Lazeer are experiencing it." Angel replied.

"Thought so." Irka said while nodding her head. "You need to work on both of them, Angel. It's during this period that a child starts thinking that they can walk all over their parents. And other family-orientated elders."

"My sons are a right well-behaved bunch." Angel, once again, emphasized. "While they've had them moments where they talk back to me, and where I've gotten on them for it, I've not once found myself as being taken advantage of."

"Went through that part of the phase with Sudir a few hundred years ago." KurukVile said. "A few paddlings, and snap-ats, did the trick in his stopping that."

"I'm very surprised that both you and Tazir let Hazaar curse as much as he does." Irka said. "Seems that whenever I come across him he's cursing."

"Neither Sudir nor Baruk curse or cursed during their time in going through the phase and that goes double with your father and Triskull." KurukVile said.

"Tazir seems the more reserved parent while I'm the one that lets the boys vent out their frustrations." Angel commented. Her husband gave his head a nod after hearing these words.

"Angel—" judging by what he was able to see of his grandmother's face, she was about to run out a lecture on what a parent should and shouldn't do and on how parents should "act as a force" in regards to their children. Before she could speak, or run out the lecture that he thought she was about to say, he spoke.

"We love and respect our mother, and we appreciate her allowing us to vent out, and use words that the grown-ups use. While Hazaar's more prone to cussing, we don't cuss all the time." Bile said.

"And you mention nothing of your adoptive father." Irka said to him. "How, please tell, do you, and your brothers, treat him? Are you four giving him the respect that he deserves to have, or are you disregarding him as your parent?" the split second that he took before answering her given questions seemed to be "answer enough" for her; his grandmother didn't give him a chance to answer her questions. She shook her head, tsked, then said, "I see. In a way, I'm not surprised that you refused to answer my question. After hearing no answer from you, I wonder how you're going to treat your real father when he gets here." after saying this, she turned to address TazirVile. "Tazzy, since Bile refused to answer my question on how he, and his brothers, treat you, can you answer my question?"

"I've had a few issues with Lhaklar and Hazaar over the past few weeks—nothing that I can't handle, or take care of." TazirVile replied. "Other than the issues that I just referenced, I have been shown respect."

"Issues? What kind?" Irka asked.

A few days ago, after overseeing the third garden chamber in his mansion be squared away for the produce that was desired to be grown in it, he had spoken to his brother about the issues that he had encountered with the boys; Kuruk, though giving him an astonished look, and though giving him some "advice" on how to handle the issues that he had encountered, hadn't spoken in a negative fashion about how he was going by the boys' sometimes rowdy antics. If it had been his brother who had asked him to re-tell the events that he confided in him about on the twenty-second of December he would of grown suspicious of his intent in wanting to re-hear what he had previously told him; since it was his sister-in-law who had asked him about the issues that he had encountered, and since she didn't know what he had experienced with the boys, he didn't mind repeating what he had said to Kuruk.

He spoke of the challenges that he had gotten from Lhaklar, and of how Hazaar had gotten a little physical with him during the first week that he, and his brothers, had been in the mansion, before speaking of how the boys had either been very apprehensive or nervous of him and of their wanting to keep him at a distance from them. The latter telling, plus what he said in regards to how he handled the issues that he had, so far, encountered, mustn't of gotten through to his sister-in-law because she was fast in standing and in addressing both Bile and Lhaklar about what they had done after being returned to the mansion.

"You two should be ashamed of yourselves!" she said to them. "Both you and your brothers should know better than to strike at an elder, and in challenging the authority that they hold over you."

"So, there haven't been any other violent actions beside those?" DuruVile, who was having a time in keeping the smile that he wanted to express from creeping across his face, asked. He had figured that the boys were walking all over Tazir, and that they were being disrespectful of him; for him, his son's words just confirmed what he had figured. "A single punch from Hazaar, which should of gotten a good belting in return, and a few challenges from Lhaklar, which should of gotten more than just a plain lecture? Tazir, I am not in the least bit surprised that you've not taken charge from Angel on the disciplining of the boys."

"Angel's still producing milk." Cyla blurted. Irka was slow in returning to the couch that she had previously been sitting on; both she, and her husband, shook their heads after hearing this piece of news. By way blurting out the issue on Angel's continued milk production, the issues that Tazir had just spoken about were "forgotten". "She's still letting her sons nurse from her."

"Angel, we've spoken to you about your doing that before you disappeared with the boys." KurukVile said after issuing a long sigh. "They don't need your milk anymore. They're big enough, and strong enough, to be well enough without it."

"You've done nothing more than make them be dependent on you." Irka said after sighing. "You need to wean them and now, Angel—it's better for you and for them."

"Now wait a second here," Ashaklar spoke up. "I let my children nurse until they were twenty-five hundred years old... Angel's doing no wrong in—"

" _Your_ children are _common_ children," Cyla sassed. "Angel's children are _Surfeit_ children. Good-blooded children... practically royal children for crying out loud."

"According to Angel, she's gotten herself tested for Mastitis for years now, and she's gotten her milk tested as well. Them tests, she says, come back as saying that her milk is full of everything that a child needs. If them tests are correct then she is f—"

"She is not fine in letting them boys nurse at their age." KurukVile said, he had an aggravated tone to his voice that was very evident to everyone. "She needs to wean them, and take the pill that'll start the process of drying her milk up."

Hazaar and Lazeer entered the room at the precise moment that the third silent spell occurred; though noticing the room's quiet, and the disappointment that was present on their aunt and uncle'e faces, they continued in going towards the sectional couch. They had just taken a seat when their aunt asked a question pertaining to their educations.

"So, did Lhaklar and Hazaar speak truth of their, and their brothers', educations during the meal that they attended with us when we were on Earth?" she asked.

"Yep. All true, sadly." DuruVile replied.

"Have just Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic under my belt, and I have no interest in going further in school." Bile said after the room went into yet another quiet spell.

"Pronghorn, and the University of Telepathy, for me, Hazaar, and Lazeer. Like Bile, we decided to not go further in our educations." Lhaklar said.

"Angel!" Irka exclaimed. "I shouldn't be but so surprised that you abandoned their need in going to school! Bile's father wouldn't approve at all—he'd demand that Bile be sent to—"

"We have no interest in this evil or conquering game that you play." Hazaar said.

"She didn't neglect our educations." Bile said. "She actually threw a bunch of pamphlets on the table after we returned from Pronghorn. She said that she'd do all that she could to send us to any of the schools that were on them pamphlets. For us, it was a mutual decision to not continue in going to anymore schools."

"You let them pick their own educations?" Irka shook her head. Instead of speaking on the issue, she got up then left the room; she, at the moment, was disgusted by what she had just heard.

"You shouldn't of done that, Angel. I didn't let your father, Dara Dara, Triskull, Baruk, Kaasa, or Sudir pick where they were going to go for their educations—I was a correct parent in sending them to an educational facility that would give them the education that they needed to receive."

"Like my brother said, we have no interest in being evil. Ma gave us our choice in where we wanted to go; we decided that, since all them other schools taught evil-based stuff, we didn't want to go anywhere else."

"You shouldn't of been given that choice." KurukVile responded.

In the fifth consecutive silent spell that fell over the room, he and his brothers began to wonder what was wrong with their family and why they didn't seem to understand how difficult it was for them to be away from their mother, or from one another, for that matter. While they loved their mother to death, and while their love for her had no logical explanation, or name, to it, they weren't all that dependent on her—if that was the case then they wouldn't know how to cook, and wouldn't cook for themselves whenever the opportunity arose itself, or do any sort of cleaning in the space that they lived in. The trips to the town that they lived in, or to the towns that surrounded the one that they lived in, wouldn't be done; they wouldn't meet and then hang out with people their age; they wouldn't go out to hunt, or do any fishing in the local water sources that were around them; they wouldn't spend a nickel of the allowance that they were given each month; and he and Lhaklar wouldn't ogle the ladies or "follow" a lady that they had gained the eye of for a few hour loving spree if they were completely dependent on her.

Shit, Lhaklar had had a job before they were removed from Earth; if anything needed to be used as an example on how non-dependent they were of their mother they could well use that as it. If Lhaklar was so mother-dependent, he'd not have a job, or be helping out when it came time for the monthly bills to be paid and for the pantry to be re-stocked. Their mother having a job, and being out of the house for eight-plus hours, was another example that could be given on how "dependent" they were of her—either she'd have a job that employed her for a short duration of time or she'd find them as following her to her place of work if they were dependent on her for everything.

Unless some shit started up, and they wished to have her near them, they didn't follow her like a shadow or hug up against her backside—up to Duru and his family, Shaam, and Kuruk and his family's arrival, they had been moving about the mansion freely, and they hadn't been jumping at any old sound or after she was noted as not being near them either.

They gave her the space and respect that she deserved and she, in turn, did the same with them; only when it was absolutely necessary did she get ultra-super parental with them—a prime example of this occurred about two years ago. After finding Lazeer as having a book that was about drugs, and on how to manufacture drugs, she had confronted him about it before taking and then getting rid of it. Lazeer, at the time, had based his purchase of that book from what its spine said—the spine had mostly been torn from the book, and the front flap, and first four pages, had been missing; the word _Jokes_ had been seen as being on the intact spine, which was why he had purchased and then brought it home. After explaining his reason in purchasing the book, and in having it in his possession, Lazeer had apologized for having it—she, instead of yelling and getting all over Lazeer's case, had smiled before taking the book and then saying for him to be careful in what he purchased in book-material from now on. They had known the reason to why she had taken that book and they accepted her concern and the spot of temper that was expressed after the book was seen.

If they had no education under their belts, they'd understand the reason to why everyone was so disappointed; with his having Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic under his belt, and with his brothers having both Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic and the University of Telepathy under theirs, there shouldn't be any disappointment being disclosed—their mother had slaved for them to go to school, and she had readied them for the day that they'd leave her company to go to school, and they had gone to school, so there wasn't a cause for anyone to be disappointed in them for their "lack" of going to school. They were grateful for her sending them to school and they were also grateful for her allowing them the privilege in what school they wanted to go to after they graduated from the first one—er, in his case; after Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer started showing that they could do Telepathy and Telekinesis, they hadn't had a choice in not going to the University of Telepathy. After graduating from the University of Telepathy, ma had re-shown them the pamphlets and then asked where they wanted to go next—the mutual decision to forgo any further schooling occurred after that was done.

"So, who all were sent an invite "early"?" DuruVile asked after the quiet spell lapsed for five minutes.

"Except for my mother, and her family, and Qeeta, who received theirs in a normal sense, everyone who's here received their invites early." TazirVile replied.

"When are you planning on sending the other invites out?" DuruVile asked.

"In a couple of weeks." TazirVile replied.

"You should send them out now," DuruVile said. "The boys need to get to know their family, and Angel needs to get acquainted with her family."

"Momentarily, granpappy. I don't want my sons to get but so stressed out." Angel said.

"Lass, I understand why you're worried about that but..." ShaamVile trailed off; he looked at the ceiling for a while before dropping his gaze. It was quite evident that he was searching for the right words to say on what he wanted to disclose to their mother. "Well, what can I say, Lass? My son is right—they _do_ need to see and get to know their family and you _need_ to get reacquainted with everyone. The only way that that can be done is that everyone comes over. They might get a little stressed out—that is natural, and very expected; it won't last long so you shouldn't worry much on it." he let that sink in for a few seconds before continuing. "Also, Lass, the sending of everyone's invites is better than having everyone waiting in anticipation—all of us want to see you and the boys, Angel; along with getting reacquainted with you, we want to get to know who your sons are."

"I'd really like for this process to go slowly," Angel said. Like Shaam, she was choosing her words carefully. "Less stress on them and less stress on me."

"Lass, I'm going to switch from being nice and polite to plain logical, okay." ShaamVile stood up; he reached into the left pocket of his pants, then he rummaged around for a bit, before withdrawing what-looked-to-be two white envelopes. After these were in his possession, he re-took his seat then started speaking again. "One of these—" he held the two envelopes up. "—is addressed to me; both are from my uncle. I do believe that you, and everyone present in the room, remembers what happened a few months ago between you and your sons and my uncle and his wife and their son."

"I do, yes."

"You and your sons ambushed him..." ShaamVile said distantly.

"We didn't ambush—" Angel started to say; Shaam's response of holding his hand up caused her to not finish what she had been meaning to say.

"I opened this the day before I got my invitation to come here; I think you should read it and I also think that you should read the unopened one." ShaamVile said while putting the two envelopes on the room's stationed coffee table. "The one that's unopened was written specifically for you—Trobrencus wanted your eyes and your eyes alone to see it."

"I'll read them... but, before I do, I'm going to make note right here and now that neither I nor my sons ambushed him, or his wife and son, on the day that they showed up at my former workplace." Angel said while getting up from the chair's arm. She went to the two envelopes, then she picked them up, then she returned to the chair that she had previously been sitting on. After sitting down, she said, "What happened on that day isn't fully on—"

"Tell whatever you want to say to us on the situation that occurred on Earth to my uncle first, Lass." ShaamVile said before standing then excusing himself from the room.

Most everyone followed Shaam in leaving the room. Grandma Ashaklar and Granddad Cheshire said something about wanting to check-in on Defe and Qhuakiz, who, they claimed, were much too quiet; Duru and Cyla said nothing while their oldest son, Kuruk, said something about wanting to see where his wife went to. Qeeta and his adoptive father went off together—what for they didn't know and, really, they didn't much care about what they were planning on doing right now. The two envelopes, that their mother had in her hand, were what he and his brothers were concentrating their concerns on. What could be in the two envelopes and what kind of trouble was about to be caused by them?

While watching their mother as she took the piece of paper from the opened envelope, they thought that they didn't know who the one who was addressed on the one envelope was; it took a total of twenty seconds before it came to them on who the Trobrencus-guy was. At the time of their remembering who Trobrencus was, they also remembered what happened on October 25.

Like their mother had said, no ambush happened on the day that they found her as being surrounded by people who shouldn't of been inside the shield; Lazeer, after perceiving the guy as a zombie, and after seeing him as grabbing their mother by the arm, had shot an icicle at him. The events that unfolded after that icicle struck home in the guy's shoulder had been both terrifying and exhilarating—Bile had been the primary one to fight Trobrencus while he and Lhaklar had been squaring off with Eldass and Homsi; Lazeer had been the only one of them to stay focused on Trivit, who he had really been putting his all on. At around the time that Trobrencus, and his wife, were removed from the shield, a bunch of Goblins wearing military uniforms joined the battle—Bile, they remembered, had taken a ride to the hospital in an ambulance after the fighting was done.

If not for the phone lines going down, and if not for their inability to reach their mother after the lines went down, they wouldn't of left the apartment or taken the drive to their mother's workplace. The event in the parking lot of Green River, Wyoming's Food Lion never would of happened if not for them two things happening.

"Boys, surely you have other interests than looking over your old mom's shoulder." their mother said after the piece of folded paper was removed from the opened envelope.

"For one so "old" you look very beautiful and young, ma." Bile commented.

"I take it that you four want to know what's been put in these two letters?" their mother said. "Grampy said for my eyes only, boys. I'd be breaking that if I allowed for you to see what's written on the envelopes' contents."

"Our secret, mom." Lazeer said. "He won't know that it was really twelve pairs of eyes—ours and Grampy's—that read what he wrote."

"Yeah, ma. It'll be a family secret—it'll just be us five that'll know how many eyes peered at what was written." Bile said.

"Pleeeeeease, momma, can we read what's in them envelopes with you?" Hazaar pled. He got down on his knees then he placed his hand on his mother's arm. "We won't spill a thing of what we read, momma. We'll be mute... on one will know a thing about our reading what was written."

"Oooooh..." Angel gave it a good pondering about not letting them read what the envelopes had in them. After ten seconds passed, she figured that it was in their right in being allowed to see what had been put in the two envelopes—she'd not only be skipping the tell-all on what all she read in the two envelopes but they'd also know what was going on; she saw no wrong in their being allowed to read what had been written and then put in the two envelopes. "Alright, but not fighting, though."

"Ah man! I was so looking forward to us pushing and shoving one another as we read." Lazeer pouted before putting on a smile.

Even though it was a joke, they did spend a minute to two minutes of playful fighting before the first letter's contents were read. Hazaar pushed Lazeer twice before turning to do the same to Lhaklar. Lhaklar, after being pushed, grabbed both he and Hazaar by their shirts; he "threw" them around once or twice before returning to where he had previously been standing. When it came to his turn, he just ran his mouth at his brothers. Their mother, in regards to their "shenanigans", waited until they were done before holding the letter up for them to read.

When they had been younger, and had wanted to do a group-read of something, they hadn't done the play-fighting thing—back when they were kids, the fighting had been for real, and it usually always started after Lazeer started "elbowing" Hazaar for reading room. Their mother, after the fighting started, would always put what was wanted to be group-read down before turning and then saying for them to either stop it or leave the room.

Back then, the gang-up routine had been seen as a way to be "cute" and "funny" by them; their mother had seen it this way as well when they had been very little—after reaching their mid-hundreds, and then early thousands, the seeing it that way had stopped. Ma had been fast in making out a rule after the "cute" and "funny" antics stopped being so "cute" and "funny—whenever she had something that they were all wanting to read, they were to either shut up and read or wait until it was their turn to read whatever it was that they were all interested in reading. This rule was in-place for a reason—she didn't want them to fight and she didn't want what was desired to be group-read to be torn up or destroyed before being read.

After they were all in position—he looking over their mother's head, with Lhaklar and Hazaar being on either side of him, and with Lazeer looking over their mother's right arm—, the reading of what was on the first piece of paper commenced.

 _Dear Nephew,_

 _Hope all is well with you; I apologize for not being able to get back to you sooner—me and mine have experienced problem after problem after getting back, which is why we've missed all of your calls and haven't been answering the letters that you've sent us._

 _Bahne's been trooping through things, and she's been cooking up a storm—we've been well-fed despite the issues that we've encountered—and the kids are trying to put on a happy face and be normal. With the way the castle was when we returned to it, I'm more than pleased with how my family's handled things—and that I've not had any heart or anxiety attacks._

 _I gave the order for the dogs to be let out one to two times a day and that someone always be around to watch them as they moved about the property—when me and mine returned, we found that this order hadn't been adhered to. Upon our return, several of my staff were looking for the dogs, which they had simply let out and then forgotten all about. Of the eight dogs that we own, all but two ran off—and, of the six that ran off, only five have either been found or have returned to the castle. I also gave the order for the male dogs to be kept away from the bitches—upon our return, we found that two of our female dogs caught pregnant and gave birth during our absence. Two of my staff allowed old Zamin and Iruhlezer in with the girls, Nephew, which has caused more than enough heartbreak for us. It was Jhopa and P'poa that caught pregnant, Shaam—Jhopa had a total of ten puppies while P'poa died after giving birth to pup #4; of the fourteen puppies born, only nine survived to the present._

 _The ones that didn't adhere to my order in keeping an eye on the dogs, and in keeping the male dogs from the female ones, were fired right after we learned that P'poa passed away after not being able to pass the bigger of the puppies that she was giving birth to, and that, of P'poa's four puppies, only one survived to being what it is now—if they're not going to do as I've told them to do then there's no point in having them being employed by me. As you know, I do breed my dogs on occasion—but only when I see fit, and when the animal's fit to hold up to the demands of the ones that she'll be both carrying and then caring for. Jhopa and P'poa were not ready to be bred, Shaam—they were just a year old, and had only gone through two heat cycles. I've made the decision to not keep any of the surviving puppies—the current number of dogs that we have is enough, thank you._

 _Celobra's cats also got out from their room; the staff appointed with their care claim that they don't know how they did so, which I don't believe. Three litters were born during our absence—two were found under the living room couch; I think the third is in the laundry room. I keep hearing kitten sounds coming from the laundry room walls, Nephew, so I'll probably have to tear the walls in that room apart to see what all dwells in them. Benoci's pet Racobi also got loose—according to the man who was appointed her care, he didn't properly close the door to the room that she was in after feeding her. How the hell do you not close a door properly? That man, along with the ones that were given the order to keep after Celobra's cats, was fired as well._

 _Three horses gave birth; one of the colts had to be put down almost immediately after being born while the filly had to be separated from her mother—the claim on that one says that the dam turned on her baby. I've not disputed my foaling man; since I've had no issues with him in the past, and since he sounds frank in what he told me, I see no reason in firing him for them two issues. The surviving colt will probably be raised, then weaned, then sold after he reaches a year to two years old—there's something in how he moves that I'm not very favoring towards, Shaam._

 _All of what happened in our absence shouldn't of been allowed to happen. I've done more screaming in the last few weeks to last a lifetime, and I think my family agrees with me on that notion. If you're wondering, Shaam, about who the still-missing dog is, it's old Cocbok. My daddy's dog, Shaam... the one that was willed over to me after pop kicked the bucket—may that old warrior rest in peace, he surely deserves it. If that dog isn't found and soon I will not be a happy man at all._

 _The problems, on my end, don't end with what's been written above. The gardener was suppose to keep up with the produce and keep the Seebs away—most of what was in the outdoor garden had to be trashed thanks to the man not doing as he was told to do. Like with the other staff that were nixed of their jobs, I fired him right after hearing that the garden had to be destroyed and then re-planted. See what happens when the employer isn't around to keep his eye on his staff? They slouch; they slack; they sit around and be lazy, letting all of your stuff go to shit and make your return to your abode be a living hell!_

 _Had to open all of the castle's hallway windows after getting the scoop on what happened with the dogs and after hearing about what happened with the garden—the central AC, which was only two years old, went out while we were gone; though it was a hassle in getting a technician out here, it was replaced after we returned home. According to the technician that put in the new unit, the old AC blew—with it being in the mid to upper sixties in my area, I find this very hard to understand and accept. Bahne's chocolate sculptures were very nearly destroyed by the central AC going out on us; luckily, some of the staff worked fast enough to put them in one of the walk-in freezers, so they were able to be saved. The glass sculpture, that's in my and Bahne's bedroom, had a crack in it due to the conditions in the castle; that was swiftly repaired via a spell. One of the glass chandeliers had to be taken down and replaced—heat cracks were noticed on it; the spell that I used on it, to make it go from being damaged to repaired, didn't work so it had to be taken down._

 _The meat locker also went down during our absence; everything that was in it had to be thrown out, and the door had to be left open—a small fan was put in the box just before our return occurred. The meat locker was fixed eight hours after we returned; a near-similar assortment of meat was purchased and then put in it after it was installed._

 _Bahne and I have gotten into it on more than three occasions since our return occurred; we did make up after each fight, so all is well between us—I breathe a sigh of relief on that one, Shaam! As you know, I'm quite taken with My Bahne. I'd not know what to do if she up and left me or removed her company from me. Took the family out on several shopping sprees, or to just plain dine at restaurants, after we returned—with all the stress that we were going through, we needed, and deserved, to be spoiled a little._

 _While I've enjoyed hearing from you—getting and reading your letters, and hearing your messages on the old automated attendant—I must caution you in not speaking of Angel, or her sons. I know that you're excited about her being found as being alive, and in knowing that all of her sons are alive, but I'm not all that happy or excited about their discovery—we have yet to forget what happened on the 25th of October, Shaam. Thanks to one of them brats of hers, Trivit vomited worms, clots of blood, and slugs for eight long hours—I do believe that he had another ailment, which he plain refuses to expose to me, or speak about. My wife still has the marks on her arm, and I still have the marks on my back, from where Lhaklar used his finger-knives on us and I was forced to lay up in bed for a while after me and Bile fought. Whoever it was that shot that icicle at my backside is also on my shit list, Nephew._

 _Angel brings up her kids to fight and injure members of the family? I can't believe what happened and, honestly, I don't want any of my family near her or them brats of hers until we hear word and apology from her on what she and her brats did to us. I'll be honest in saying that I doubt if we hear of an apology from her—if we do hear something from her, it'll probably be a half-assed one, or one that's not fully meant. With what happened between her, her brats, and me and mine, you can bet that I'll be shredding the invite that's to expected to be sent to my address—I'll do to her in tearing that invite up like she did to me in tearing the respect and trust that we had in one another, Shaam._

 _I've included an attachment envelope, that has a letter in it, within this one; if you'll please see to it in giving it to the woman who sicked her sons on me, my wife, and our firstborn son when you see her next. For her eyes only, Shaam, not yours. In advance for doing this, I and mine thank you._

 _Much love, respect, and wisdom to you, My Nephew. ~ Trobrencus_

He and his brothers looked up and then around after reading the first letter; they gave their eyes a small break in reading, and they gave their mother a chance to open the unopened envelope, before turning their eyes down then starting the process of taking in what had been written in the letter that seemed to be written for and only for their mother. It didn't take them long to do the silent sighing or gasping thing after the second letter's contents were read.

 _To Whom It May Concern,_

 _Due to your little ambush on me, my wife, and our son, I want no contact with you or with them boys of yours until I get an apology and a full one—I want no half-assed, or non-meaning apologies and I want no attempts on your part to "explain" yourself out of what you've done to my family. What have I done to you to deserve what you and your sons did in attacking me and my family, Angel? With the exception of how one goes by controlling his/her staff we've gotten along well; the ambush that you and yours did to me and mine was a surprise, and a hurtful one at that!_

 _I and my family have put hours into looking for you and your sons. Two hundred years of work on our part was done to find where you and your sons went and this is what we get in return for our efforts? A very uncalled for ambush?! When did the idea come up in your head and when did you find the time to call in the "recruits" for what you had planned on the 25th of October? According to my wife, you spent a small amount of time in the workers slouching room before leaving and then following her to the parking lot, where our very uncalled for dance occurred in—I highly doubt if you had any time to call up "arms" when you were in that room, since Bahne also claims that you had two Goblins with you at the time and since the bag that you had in your cubby space wasn't given to you until you were out of the room._

 _Along with all the shit that I've had to deal with since my return home I'm also trying to figure out what happened between you and yours and me, my wife, and my oldest son. I've played it back so many damn times that it's no longer a simple memory—it's now a dream that dances before my eyes when they're both open and shut! You know how much you put on me thanks to your little ambush? A LOT, that's what! You know if my father was alive, and knew of this ambush of yours on my family, he'd have your whole on a pike? Luckily, for your and your brats' sake, he's not alive or walking in the flesh because, if he was, he'd not hesitate in dishing double back to you for what you caused to me and mine._

 _You can call, write, or show up at my place for the apology giving; if you have no intention of giving me and mine an apology then have a nice life without me and my family in it. We can do this nice and decently or we can do this the way that a common person's family does—by turning our backs on one another and forgetting that we both exist._

 _For it's worth, hear from you or not, have a nice day. ~ TrobrencusVile Bolym Surfeit_

" 'Your whole on a pike'," Bile repeated that one line that was in the letter. "Ma, you don't need this cockamamie in your life. You know what happened... we all do."

"I do, yes." Angel said. She placed both letters in their envelopes before sitting on the cushion of the chair. "I could write the guy, and tell him what happened, but I doubt if he'll accept it."

"Just forget him." Bile said. "Forget what happened—in my eyes, the fool got what he deserved."

"That woman acted like she was going to join the fight. I gave her a warning, then I turned to give Hazaar some help with the Goblins that he was fighting. What was I suppose to do after she attacked me?" Lhaklar asked. "I didn't fight her out of meanness, mom. She attacked me while my back was turned, then she leaped onto my back. What was I suppose to do? Go yippee ki yay, let's have tea and cookies?"

"Were we in the wrong for fighting them and defending you? For taking a stand in protecting you?" Lazeer asked.

"A lot happened during that fight... I suppose I could write, and say what happened, and why you four were there, and why you—" Angel looked at Bile before turning her gaze to Lhaklar and Lazeer. "—three fought them. Probably won't do any bit of good but it'd get us past what happened. Whatever happens afterwards is in the hands that guide us."

"You'll stay here, right?" Bile asked. "I mean, you'll just write then send the letter in the mail, right?"

"Honey, I'm two hundred and thirty-eight years older then you—I know far better than to show up at the place of one who has ill-feelings towards me." Angel replied. "Not to mention, I'm not leaving this house without you four."

"You stick by us, right?" Hazaar asked. He was scared and he was trying his best to not show it. "You won't—"

"Honey, I'm your mother—I'll stick by your, and your brothers', sides for the rest of your lives." Angel said. After saying this, she stood up then went to give Hazaar a hug; he was fast in returning it.

"When will you write?" Bile asked.

"Do you want a copy of our memories to—"

"No, you boys keep your memories in your heads. If nothing stops me from doing so, I'll head up now to write what I want him to receive. I'll send it in the mail tomorrow morning; Trob should get what I mail him either tomorrow evening or the morning of the following day." Angel was fast in saying.

"How's he going to get it by tomorrow when he's more than a few planets away from us?" Bile asked.

"Express mail, Biley. Costs a few bucks but it's well worth every penny." Angel said. "You four go on and find something to do. Don't get into any trouble now. Behave yourselves."

"We will." Bile and his brothers said in unison.


	22. Chapter 22

From what he was able to see, it looked like his halfway normal, and pleasant, day was about to come to an end; with things in the house being calm again, and with it being so nice out—no rain, or torrential breezes, had been forecast for that afternoon—, he and his brothers had been given the green-light to go outside. He and his brothers were just ten minutes out the door—none of them had bothered in staying around one another after venturing out from the house; they had just dispersed in different directions and then started doing as they merry well pleased.

With the way Selik and Sudir were looking, it looked like he was in for a run of being bullied—they, who had been allowed to come out before he and his brothers were given the word to do so, were coming towards him and not in a friendly manner either. It almost looked like they had picked a place to stand in and then wait for someone—he and Lazeer, probably—to amble by. While he tried to ignore their forward progress, and while he tried to think that they were interested in something other than he, he knew that they were focused on him and that something was about to happen—and that someone, he was sure, was going to get hurt.

When the kids reached to within a few yards of him, he wasn't but so surprised that his figuring on what they had up their sleeves was correct.

"Hey girlie-boy!" Sudir snapped. After saying this, he rushed at and then pushed him. With there being a puddle of mud under his feet, he lost his footing; after colliding with the mud, Sudir jumped on him then, working fast, probably trying to impress his companion, he bound his hands behind his back. After the kid's knee went into his side, he gasped—when he tried to get up, that same knee went sailing into his gut. He started wheezing at once after his wind was removed from him; Selik and Sudir responded to his wheezing by laughing.

"Lookit the baby wheeze and cough," Selik sang happily. "He's practically dying without air, Sudir!"

"Look at that hair! Kept so crisp... so clean... and so, so long." Sudir said while keeping him down in the mud. "He keeps it like my sister keeps hers, and look at the braids and beads!"

"Queer! My dad hates his hair." Selik said. What he said next came out in a near haunted sort of way that seemed to creep Sudir out. "He wants it to be cut completely off his head."

"Why don't we help him out with that?" Sudir said.

As of the last couple of days, it seemed that Selik, the younger of the two boys that were bullying him, was the leader of the gang that took a fancy to him and Lazeer; Sudir seemed to take very good care in "following" the orders that the twerp gave him and he also seemed to not have a lead-role bone in his body—with Sudir's brother, Baruk, being the leader of the other bully gang, this probably didn't mesh well with him. While Baruk and Sudir seemed to get along, and not have but so many fights between themselves, he did like to imagine that Baruk, being the big bully that he was, was sickened by the fact of his "baby brother" not taking after him in being the leader of his created group of bullies.

After hearing what the two had planned for him, and after seeing Sudir's hand removing a pair of silver scissors from one of his pants pockets, he wrenched free of his attacker then turned on him—there was no way in hell that he was about to let Selik or Bone-Boy, as he commonly called Sudir whenever they were alone, or whenever he got on his nerves, cut his hair or remove his hair from his body. He'd put in a merry fight before they were allowed to do so.

Once free of his attacker, he jerked his leg up. Sudir yelled after his shin was assaulted by his foot, then he yelled again after his foot came in contact with his chin; with Bone-Boy backing off, and looking to be more concerned with his injuries than with what he was doing, he got up then charged at him. A kick sent the pair of scissors flying. The pair of scissors, which looked of the elegant sort, and which looked like something one would use in the bathroom, landed a few feet away a few seconds later—due to the fight that was going on between he and Sudir, they didn't bother in worrying about retrieving or sending them farther away.

Sudir, who's full-name was SudirVile Sorras Surfeit, but who went by plain Sudir by both family and the ones that knew him, stood six foot, two inches—despite being taller than he, he had him bested two-to-one. The kid looked much like his mother—his bone-like body was a milky-red color while his head was the only thing on him that was bi-colored. The left side of the kid's head was red while its other side was a golden color. Like his mother, he had no visible ears on his head; unlike his mother, who was eye-less, he had a pair of dark red eyes in his eyes sockets. His body was lean, and looked to possess little in muscle mass. The last he had heard, he was just barely one thousand, nine hundred, and sixty-five years old. The kid was wearing a brown-colored, long sleeve, button down shirt and dark brown breeches; the slacks that came from the ends of the breeches weren't all that crisp or clean—due to Sudir's habit of jumping on him after he lost his footing and then fell in the mud, he had gotten himself all muddy from the knee on down. The vest, that was over his shirt, was a light brown color; it had gold and red embroidery and button detailing on it. The black shoes, that were on his feet, had a small, gold buckle on them.

He delivered four punches to Bone-Boy after colliding with him. The first sailed into the cavity that was his nose while the second crashed into the side of his head; the third and fourth clipped his shoulder while the fifth, which was sadly the last one that he was able to dish-out to the kid, smacked into his chest. Selik ran in right when Sudir backed off—he guessed that the "leader" of the twosome had grown tired of seeing his prey getting the better of him and his group and he also guessed that he was hoping to take him out so he and Sudir could get the upper hand.

Try as he might, he wasn't able to throw his all into Selik—he managed four punches, and a slap, before the fight was knocked out of him. Selik managed to deliver two low blows, then a hard blow to his side, before throwing the punch to his groin—if not for this punch, he would of continued to fight him and he might of also been able to beat him back.

He dropped to his knees after the crippling blow was delivered; Selik, looking just as proud as ever, motioned for his lackey to come forward. Sudir brushed his hand across his face—blood, and a good lot of it, was flowing from his nose cavity but, at the moment, he didn't seem to care about it—before coming in. He grabbed him by his arms, then jerked him back, then held him steady; Selik, meanwhile, retrieved the pair of scissors. Try as he might—he jerked, he twisted, he yelled, and he did his best to flip the bully that was holding him over him—, he wasn't able to avoid what was to happen next.

The shine of silver was seen as the scissors were opened and then closed; he saw this twice before the one who was holding them walked around him. Except for the two strands of fully braided hair, and the one strand that was half braided, but that had a series of gold beads on it, his hair was loose—Selik grabbed his hair then, with a jerk, held it straight so he'd be able to cut it cleanly. The snip that he heard two seconds after his hair was grabbed caused him to become enraged—with the strength that he was able to muster, he got to his feet then, after using his Elemental Ground power to propel him up, he shot up from where he had formerly been restrained at.

"Wimp!" Selik shouted after the pillar of mud appeared between he and Sudir, and after his and Sudir's prey was propelled from their reach. "You run like a cow—"

He landed between the two of them right before he could be called a coward; after forming his hands into a big fist, he swung them at Selik and then at Sudir.

He punched them in rapid succession; he kicked his legs at them; he sent all sorts of mud at them after deciding to use a combination of his Elemental Water and Elemental Ground power; then, when both were down, he made vines shoot up from the ground around them. Sudir managed to evade the vines while Selik wasn't so lucky—he left Selik where he was; with Bone-Boy being within his reach, and with his being as angry as he was, he had a score to deal with with him.

Sudir rolled over to his side, then managed to get to his knees, before finding himself as being knocked over. He yelled, then screamed, after he started rolling him around in the mud. He got the bully's clothes all wet and muddy, and he also caused a few rips and tears to occur in his breeches.

He didn't stop there; after getting Sudir's clothes all muddy, and after causing his breeches to be damaged, he dropped to his knees then started grabbing handful after handful of mud. He rubbed each handful of mud that he collected in Sudir's face; at the last second, he yanked Sudir's shirt up then started slathering mud on his stomach and chest. When Sudir managed to kick him from him, he turned around then started crawl-running—he had only gone a short distance before being jumped on. Sudir, the one who had held him while Selik cut his hair, screamed after the back of his underwear was grabbed and then whisked over the back of his head. A kick to the ass finished the business with him—Sudir was just going face-first into the mud when he turned to collect the pieces of hair that he was able to see.

Surprisingly, all of what was removed from his head was able to be collected; after taking his hair up, then pocketing it, he turned to face and take care of Selik, who had long since managed to get loose of his vine-like binds.

"Dad..." Selik gave a weak cry after seeing him as coming for him. "Da—"

He leaped at him then he grabbed him by one of his horns; with a yank, he jerked Selik's head down then flashed a fist at him. A punch to the face, then to the gut, was done before he found his grip slipping—Selik, after finding himself as being free, spat before giving his head a shake; he was just opening his mouth to begin the process of yelling for someone to come save his pathetic ass when he saw his knee coming for him. Try as he might, he wasn't able to avoid the knee—the knee, after colliding with his chest, sent him reeling back into the mud, which splashed up before spewing around him after he fell into it. He found himself as no more colliding with the mud before finding the one that he had tried to bully on more than four occasions over the last couple of days jumping on him.

After jumping on Selik, he battered him with punches to his face and chest—punch #3 caused one of Selik's eyes to be halfway shut while punch #5, 6, and 7 caused more than two cuts to appear on Selik's chin, cheeks, and on the side of his nose; punch #10 had only just been given when Selik decided to put his hands up to protect himself.

In all, it took five minutes before he decided to let up on Selik; he wasn't but so surprised over seeing Selik jumping from where he was or running off in the direction of the mansion's back porch after his weight was lifted from him.

"Go tell your daddy you little porker! I've got a dose for him if he wants a go." Hazaar yelled after seeing Selik running from him.

Sudir, after relieving himself of the pressure that his underwear was giving him, crawled to the mud puddle's edge before getting to his feet then turning around. He, who, as Hazaar had suspected, had only been going by the orders given to him in restraining him so Selik could cut his hair, looked at him for the longest of time before finding himself as being spoken to.

"You want another go you little pustule?"

"You're cr—" Sudir started to say. Initially, he wanted to turn tail then flee the area; the ocean was nearby... he could well go to it, then give his body, and his clothes, a quick cleaning before heading towards his uncle's mansion. His mother, he imagined, would flip after seeing him while his father would be enraged; a certain someone, who had just gotten his hair cut clean from his head, might be in a lot of trouble afterwards while he'd be pampered, cleaned, and maybe given a treat or two as a way to soothe his anxiety. This want of his was never done; after seeing Hazaar lunging towards him, he readied himself for Round Two of the brawl that he was experiencing.

The "gully washer", as his son continued to call them ocean-oriented storms, had broke up after gaining a bit of speed; the storms, that blew in early last evening, had been enough to wake the dead but, from what he was able to see, everyone had slept through them fine.

While he was a happy resident in the M-51 Galaxy, and while he liked all of the planets that were in the galaxy, Moas was, without a doubt, his least favorite in the galaxy. The near-constant, nine months out of the year seventy to seventy-seven degrees was good, yes, but the two to three times a month ocean storms were a hassle—while the storms had been bad last night, they hadn't done all that much damage to the property that his son lived on. The mess of mud, that stretched from one corner of the backyard to the other, was the only thing that gave credence to the storm's occurrence. The ocean had swept into one of the lower-lying horse pastures, and had caused some of the grass in that pasture to be eroded, but the fence was still intact—all his son would have to do was get his staff to replace the artificial grass.

With the yard being so mudded up, he was expecting for each and every child that was out and about to be in-need of getting either a bath or a shower after being called in. Uevaa, Kaasa, and Eshal, and the two Ubalki girls, were being smart in staying inside while most of the boys were outside. He didn't know nor care where Phaggo Ubalki was; his daughter, and his two granddaughters, were either with Cyla or Irka while Blaiga and Defe Ubalki were with Ashaklar—he was glad for this; he didn't much like the idea of his children, or any of the children of his relatives, to be hanging around with folk of common blood. Like his wife, he thought that the children born into his family had better than fine blood in their veins and that they were royal-bred; he viewed that his family's offspring should only associate themselves with folk of their pedigree or that had a pedigree that wasn't plain common or peasant-like in origin.

"And there goes one of the Ubalki boys." he thought after seeing Qhuakiz, the younger of "Mr." and Mrs. Ubalki's sons, doing a belly-flop in the mud.

After seeing this disgusting sight, he turned to look at the one who was standing just out of reach of the yard's seemingly endless mud puddle. Cheshire Ubalki was standing with his back against one of the yard's horse pastures; he not only had a silver flask in his hand but he also looked to not have a problem with what his son was doing. Duru rolled his eyes; what a man! Just stand there, drinking whatever you have in your flask while your son's having "a blast" in getting himself all filthy.

A kid could get a broken leg or could well break both legs. A kid could break an arm. Hell, a kid could also break his spine or neck in the slop that was in the yard. Concerning yourself with what was in your flask wasn't the appropriate thing to be doing right now—the man should be yelling at his son, telling him to get out of the mud or go inside, or he should be rushing forward to stop what his son was doing instead.

He couldn't believe that his ex-wife had gone and married such a fool and he couldn't believe that she was still with him or that she had allowed herself to be bred and then have the fool's children. It was only by force that he had kept in contact with Ashaklar; Tazir continued to have dealings with her, and with that peasant farmer/miner of a husband of hers—if not for this, he'd of forgotten all about her. Cyla, in his opinion, was the better of his wives; he loved her so much—and, truthfully, he had still been in love with her when the meeting with Ashaklar occurred. If not for his meeting Ashaklar, then becoming enamored with her, he would of never divorced Cyla or, for the matter, married any of the other women that he had met and then had relations with after his and Ashaklar's marriage was over.

Cyla was much more mature. She was prettier, she was smarter, and she... well she was just plain better. Of the five women that he had married, it was only Ashaklar that he still saw and, sometimes, spoke with—the other women, he had seen, and spoken with, but their contact with him was very brief... he very rarely saw or spoke with them and they, it did seem, were being respectful in keeping themselves well away from him or in making sure that he and they didn't meet one another when family-done holidays came around.

"Bile!" DuruVile yelled after seeing movement to his extreme right. When he turned, he saw that his great-grandson was running towards the mud puddle; his yell was no more expelled from him when the youngster dropped them slid along on his side. Bile's sliding motion carried him a good distance before slowing up and then stopping; when he got up, his whole right side was covered in mud.

Bile had no more gotten up, and then moved off from the puddle, when his brother ran in. For Duru, this was nonsense; first the Ubalki brat, then Bile, and now Lhaklar. Lhaklar, his secondborn son's oldest biological son, imitated Bile's action by running to the mud puddle, then dropping, then sliding a good ways. When he got up, he saw that, like Bile, his whole, right side was covered in mud.

"Lhaklar!" DuruVile yelled after seeing that the youngster looked to have an interest in doing a repeat of his previous action.

"Drop it, Duru." Cheshire yelled from across the yard. "Let them be boys."

They could be boys all they wanted to and still retain their dignity, Duru was thinking; after thinking this, he looked over to the side. Baruk and Gaajah were standing under the branches of a nearby tree. It looked like they were talking, and it looked like they weren't about to engage in any sort of inappropriate activities. Qhuakiz, he saw, was now making mud-patties while Bile and Lhaklar were having a "rousing" game of mud-ball.

Except for Sudir and Selik, all of the boys were present and accounted for; he left his good-blooded stock be for a bit before deciding, for their sake, to call them in. Kuruk, though looking to be a little more lenient than he in the paternal game, was like him when it came to a child's outside playtime—the kids could play, and rough-house all they wanted, but they had to stay clean and uninjured while doing so.

Baruk and Gaajah were obedient in coming to him after he called for them; with a simple gesture of his jerking his head towards the mansion, he told them to go inside, which they did. Bile and Lhaklar gave him long, inquiring looks before hearing Cheshire's yell of their continuing as they were—he yelled at them to come to him twice and Cheshire, in response, yelled for them to continue as they were each time. He scowled at the man then, at the last second, he decided to leave the two be—he'd conversate with them on their disobeying him later, and he'd speak with Cheshire on his overruling him too.

When Selik and Sudir didn't run into view, or come to him after being called, he grew a bit concerned. After sucking in enough air to fill four sets of lungs, he yelled for them to come to him again—he put every ounce of authority that he had in him into his yell. When the two didn't come, or appear after being called, he grew angry; where were they and what the hell were they doing, he wondered.

Duru took one step from where he was standing before stopping and then turning around; the click of the mansion's back door was what caused him to take in who was coming out. After turning around, he saw that it was Angel who had come outside; she walked across the porch, then descended the porch steps, then walked by him as if he didn't exist—this gave him cause to be both concerned and, well, sad.

"Wouldn't be giving you the cold shoulder if what happened last night, and this morning, didn't happen." he thought after she went past.

The three days following Kuruk and his family's arrival had been half-so pleasant for her; while her sons were having a time in getting settled among his and Kuruk's kids, and while she was having a time in letting them get in the groove of finding their niches among the ones that were their age, she, for the most part, had been left alone. That had stopped happening last night, just after the spheres took on their nighttime colors.

His father had made the decision in trying to slip her the pill that'd make her milk supply dry up; after speaking with her on the issue, and trying to make her come to her good senses on what she was doing, he had made a trip to the house's smaller kitchen—a sort of shake had been made for her, then given to her, then a quarter drank before being set down and then forgotten. After learning that the drink had the pill in it, and that his father was the culprit behind it being in the drink, she had gotten very angry—Pubba and she had gone at it twice before supper was made and then placed on the table. Pubba had also tried to slip the pill into one of the rolls during supper too; after giving her it, then apologizing for his actions earlier, he had watched as she ate it. Angel had gotten in maybe two or three bites before putting it down—"Mr." and Mrs. Ubalki, Tazir, and all of her children had gasped after seeing the white pill being removed and then held up for all to see. While another fight occurred between her and his father after the pill was found she wasn't the only one involved in it—Tazir had given his father an earful and so had Mrs. Ubalki.

With the exception of Tazir and the Ubalki's, who seemed unacceptive of what happened last night, everyone knew that his father was just looking out for her and was on his side for what he did; Angel had left the table without excusing herself after that pill was found—no conversation between her and his father, or her and he, had happened that morning, which he thought was a bit uncalled for and unfair, since he hadn't had any involvement in what happened with the the pill being slipped to her.

In his opinion, it should be Tazir who was trying to slip her the pill; Pubba shouldn't be the one giving her the pill or concerning himself about trying to get her to take it. Angel should heed their advice in weaning her sons, and in letting her milk dry up; they could pressure her with words, and try to keep her from her sons for short periods of time, but the pill that would cause her milk to dry up should only be given to her by her spouse, not by her great-great grandfather, great-grandfather, or grandfather.

"And then we have what happened after breakfast was eaten..." he thought after she stopped before the mud puddle.

Breakfast had been good; very appetizing, and very satiating to all of their taste-buds, but the event that occurred after it had made all of that good food become very hard to digest. Kuruk had made his way up to the level that the boys' chambers were on after everyone was dismissed from the table; after seeing that Lhaklar's, Hazaar's, and Lazeer's chambers were unlocked, he had entered them and then done a spell that'd make all of the models and magazines, several posters, and most of the music that the boys owned become small and then appear in a box. After all of what had been put in the box was in the box, Kuruk left the level that the rooms were on.

The three boys, after noticing that their things were missing, got mad and then went to see Tazir and their mother; after hearing "testimony" from one of the maids, who had been on the level at the time, and who had seen Kuruk leaving Lazeer's chamber with a box, Kuruk had been requested to give all that he had taken back—he had only done so after both Angel and Tazir started running their mouths at him.

All of what had been taken had been returned to their prior stations; from what he had seen, Bile and Hazaar had been the ones to sort out the magazines and then return each to the one that owned them.

With the exception of "Mr." and Mrs. Ubalki, and their kids, no one was allowed entrance to the rooms that the boys slept or did their "recreational" activities in.

"And then we have the event that happened four hours ago," he thought before going on in trying to gain his son's, and his grandson's, attention.

Kuruk and Irka, it did seem, had come across Angel letting Hazaar nurse from her; after seeing her as letting one of the boys have her milk, they had taken it upon themselves to try to keep her away from her sons. For two hours, they had either followed her or had kept her in their sights; they had also tried to keep her sons from coming within any sort of distance to her. After the game was noticed, Angel turned and then gave them a good yelling-at for their attempt in trying to "keep her company" from the boys.

As far as he knew, nothing else occurred either last night or that day.

He was hoping that she'd snap out of giving him the cold shoulder; he missed speaking with her and, well, he didn't deserve for that shoulder to be given to him.

"Selik! Soo—" after yelling the name of one of the currently missing boys, then getting a portion of the other missing boy's name out, DuruVile's jaw dropped. His youngest son was running towards him in a frantic sort of way and it looked like he was in a more than messy condition.

Her interest in giving anyone who wasn't her husband, or her kids, or the Ubalki's, the cold shoulder was forgotten after Selik was seen as running out from the bushes that flanked the yard's right side. Selik was a mess. His clothes were ripped, and he was covered in mud, and it looked like he had a series of injuries on his face; after seeing this sight, then realizing that Hazaar wasn't anywhere to be seen, she started thinking up the form of an avian.

An energized breeze fell from her as a pink energy wrapped itself around her; she remained wrapped in this energy, and she continued to give off this energized breeze, for a few seconds before stepping away from where she was standing. The form that she had taken was very Robin-like—she was a fiery red color, and her wings had a foot to a foot and a half span to them, and her beak was long and pointy. The eyes, that looked out from her avian face, were a solid emerald-green color. Once her form was achieved, she flew off in the direction that Selik came from.

Her sons had gone in different directions after being told that they could go outside; Bile had gone towards the bushes while Lhaklar had gone towards the beach. Lazeer, she did believe, was in the horse stable while Hazaar went in the general direction that Bile went. Bile and Lhaklar were able to been seen; she assumed that Lazeer was still in the horse stable. Since Hazaar wasn't able to be seen, and since Selik had come from the direction that he had been headed towards, she figured that something had happened between he and her son.

She gave two hops before flapping her wings; while gliding above the ground, a fiery red glow showered from her. In all, it took her two to three minutes of flight before coming upon the scene that was going on in the near-center of a large mud puddle—Hazaar, she saw, was fiercely locked in battle with Sudir, who looked almost like one of them mud-monsters that the Earth-residing parents sometimes spun yarns about to their kids as a way to keep them from playing with or going near the mud. After seeing what was going on, she dove down then started the process of returning to her true form. Once her true form was achieved, she went to separate the two kids, who were still locked in battle, and who had yet to notice that she was in the area or that she was coming towards them.

When she reached them, she grabbed the back of Sudir's shirt; the sleeve of Hazaar's shirt was only barely able to be grabbed when she started the process of forcing the two apart. Her son, after feeling her hand on his shirt sleeve, stopped fighting while Sudir continued to fight.

"What—" Angel gave Sudir a hard yank to the side after he continued to fight her son; he dropped to his knee for only a second before getting back up and then trying to return to throwing his fists at her son. "—is the reason for this? Hazaar, why are you fighting S—"

Hazaar yelled after seeing the hand—the boney, milky-red hand that belonged to none other than his former opponent—rushing towards his mother. While he tried to get in the way, and take the blow for his mother, the mud prevented him from being fast; there was a loud whapping sound, then his mother's head turned, then he heard his mother's raspy, and very anger-filled, breathing. Sudir's slap had so much power in it that it caused her fiery red hair to fly from one shoulder to the next, but, curiously, it didn't cause her to take any steps from him or to lose her footing and then fall into the mud.

His mother took in two breaths before turning to look at Sudir; her emerald-green eyes, Sudir was fast in noting, were hot with anger, and it looked like the golden-yellow rings, that were around their pupils, had grown to nearly twice their size. Hazaar thought that his mother looked gorgeous while he thought that she looked hideous—the beauty that had been present in the woman was no longer present; the anger had taken that beauty... the woman before him was now a hideous beast, and a former shell of her former self.

Sudir took two steps back in fear; after the second step was taken, he felt his feet as flowing out from under him. He fell on his butt in the mud, then he bounced up, then he ran in the direction that the mansion was in. Angel, after he was off on his run, shook her head; after giving her head a shake, she turned to look at her son, who disclosed no fear in her.

"Explain yourself." she said.

"Selik and Sudir ganged up on me, momma. They beat me and they..." Hazaar reached into the pocket of his pants; once his hair was in his grasp, he took it from his pocket then showed it to his mother. "They cut off my hair, momma."

Angel looked at the hair, that had formerly been on the nape of the back of her son's head, for the longest of time before reaching forward to take it. She stuffed it into her pocket, then grabbed her son by his arm, then led him to where she thought he'd want to be. While she knew the spell that'd reattach her son's rattail to his head she didn't want to say it right off so quickly—she wanted her husband to see the severed hair before doing so.

After coming upon a pair of silver scissors, that looked very uncomfortable in the area that they were in, she stopped long enough to pick them up. She thought that they were important, which was why she pocketed them and then moved on in getting her son to where he needed to go. Hazaar, she noted, had a few nicks and scratches on him; he was covered in mud, and it looked like he was, once again, plagued by an injury to his groin—her son, while using his legs to get to where she wanted him to go, was walking in a very bow-legged way.

It took a few minutes to get to the portion of the yard where most everyone was; Cheshire, she saw, was on the back porch with a rather muddy, but happy-looking, Qhuakiz, while Bile and Lhaklar were still rough-housing in the mud puddle. Lazeer, she saw, was just now leaving the stable. Bile and Lhaklar stopped their rough-housing after seeing her and Hazaar; when she saw them as coming towards her, she held her hand up then made the motion for them to go back to doing what they had previously been doing. Lazeer, who noticed her motion, remained where he was for a short while before going towards the area where the now-demolished outdoor garden was.

Hazaar, when he reached the porch, went up the four steps slowly; he crossed the porch after he reached it then he went into the mansion. She followed him as he went along.

The first person that he, and, a second to two seconds later, she, came upon after entering the mansion was Cyla, who didn't look in any way happy.

"You discipline him and you discipline him good, Angel!" Cyla yelled. "Sudir's face is a bloody mess, Selik's face is all cut up, and both Selik and Sudir's clothes have to be thrown away because he des—"

"Hazaar won't be disciplined for what happened between he and Selik and Sudir." Angel said while marching Hazaar past Cyla. Her great-grandmother glared at her after she went past, but she said no more to her.

"Mom, is dad going to be mad because of this?" Hazaar asked.

"Probably, honey. But it won't be directed towards you." Angel replied.

After reaching one of the stairwells that went up to the second level, they went up then started the process of going down the hallway; they did this once more before reaching the level that her son's bedroom was on. On the way to the second level, and then down that level's hallway, they had lots of eyes looking at them, both from family and from the ones that worked the house. Eldass, from what she was able to see, acted like he was going to say something while Homsi and Zshon looked like they were about to assist in taking her son upstairs—she, in a way, was glad that the two men pulled back at the last second. With the exception of Tazir, she wanted to be alone with her son. She also wanted to calm down from what was just experienced.

Once they were in the room that was her son's, she told her son to undress himself and then get into the shower; the first shower was completed, and the tub was in the process of being cleaned, when she decided that she might as well reattach the hair that was taken from her son's head.

The braids were undone, then the beads were taken out, then each strand was arranged in a neat and tidy way before she held it to where it had been cut from; at first, the spell that she did looked to not have any effect on her son's hair. After two to three seconds passed, she tried again—unlike the last time, where the rattail wasn't reattached to her son's head, her son's hair was returned to where it was suppose to be. A yellow spark was seen, then the strands of what remained on her son's head reattached themselves to the hair that she was holding; after her son's hair was back to where it was suppose to be, she gave it a gentle tug—to see if it was on right and to see if it was strong enough to continue being on her son's head.

With her son's hair being back on his head, she told him to finish what he was doing in the bathroom then get back in the shower; the first shower, while getting a lot of mud from his body, hadn't gotten all of the mud from him. Her son said okay, then returned to cleaning the tub of its mud and grime, then got the water going again; he was just getting into the shower when she left his room.

After leaving the room, she walked right into Tazir, who was two to three steps from their son's chamber, and who looked both mad, confused, and concerned at the same time.

"I suggest that you both dispel your anger and then turn around and leave the level if you're angry at our son." she said after coming upon her husband.

"What happened? My father claims that Hazaar beat up Selik and then Sudir while being outside." TazirVile asked.

"It's the other way around, Tazzy. _They_ ganged up on him, then beat _him_ up, then snipped _his_ hair off." Angel replied. "Hazaar responded by getting mad and then defending himself."

"They cut his h... Where's Hazaar?" TazirVile blinked his eyes; his father had said nothing about that after entering the house. All while dragging Selik down one of the downstairs hallways, he had yelled all of what his son had said to him. Sudir had come in on his own; Irka had done the same thing after finding him as running towards her.

"In his chamber—taking a shower. He's got more than two layers of mud on him that needs to be washed off." Angel replied.

"Do you have his h—"

"It's already been reattached." Angel said. With this said, she reached into the pocket that the scissors were in. Once the scissors were in her hand, and then were out of her pocket, she gave them to her husband. "Those were found near to where I found Hazaar and Sudir fighting. I believe that they're what was used to cut his hair with."

If they had been a normal pair of scissors, he would of asked his son if he could see the memory of what happened before believing a word of what his wife said; since Angel didn't look to be in the best of moods, and since the pair of scissors resembled the ones that belonged to his father, he knew better than to do this.

The scissors were silver, and were antique; the grape, and grape vine designs, that were on their grips, were very prominent. When he turned the scissors around, so that he could see the other side of their finger loops, he saw that his father's name was on them—these were his father's alright, no doubt on that now. After seeing the name, he pocketed what he had been given then went past his wife. He went straight to the stairwell that'd take him to the house's fourth level, then he went up the stairs, then he went down the hallway to the room that his father and Cyla had been given.

Angel and the boys had had it rough for the last twelve to fourteen hours and, really, so had he and Eshal; with her being so targeted-at last night, he hadn't been but so surprised to see her as not sleeping in their chamber or in spending much time with him. While most of the hours that they had been asleep had been pleasant, they had been aroused from a sound sleep after hearing a commotion coming from Bile's room—Baruk, for some unknown reason, had gotten it into his head about taking a trip to the house's third level and then going into Bile's bedroom chamber; Bile, after seeing that he had an "intruder" in his room, had jumped and then taken said "intruder" down. Angel had been fast in separating the two right after the take-down occurred.

Except for saying that he had "gotten lost", Baruk had given no explanation as to why he wandered into Bile's bedroom chamber at 2:35 a.m., and he had also expressed no apology for waking Bile, or most of the rest of the house, up.

After reaching the door that went to Room 17, he stopped then turned to knock on it. He gave the door two knocks, then he waited, then he gave it another two knocks after no one answered. He was about to knock again when the door was opened; his father, who looked none too happy at the moment, acknowledged him right after opening the door.

"What is it you want, Tazir?" DuruVile asked. "Cyla's already told me that Angel's planning on not disciplining Hazaar for what occurred between he and Selik and Sudir. I'm not very happy over hearing that, or about what happened between the three of them."

"She has a good damn reason to not discipline him." TazirVile responded. He took the pair of scissors from the pocket of his green striped tuxedo then he gave them to his father. "Angel found those in the location that Sudir and Hazaar were found in. According to what my son told my wife, Selik cut his hair with them."

He stared at the pair of scissors for a short while before reaching to take them from the hand that they were near-neatly nestled in; once they were in his possession, he placed them on the chocolate brown dresser, that was beside the door to his and his wife's assigned chamber. He had been looking for his pair of scissors almost all day; the idea of their still being in one of his and his wife's suitcases had come to him—the cases had been checked, and quite thoroughly too, without anything being found as being in them—then the idea of their being misplaced in the bathroom that was adjacent the room that he and his wife slept in had been thought—the bathroom had been combed, and quite thoroughly too, without any results being found of the missing scissors—then he had thought that he had left them at home, in the bathroom that was adjacent his and his wife's bedroom chamber—a trip home, and a near-repeat of combing the bathroom that he and his wife used after waking, was done; the same results occurred.

With his scissors not being found, he had asked his wife if she knew where they were—her response had been _no Duru, and I don't know of one who'd be interested in taking off with a pair of scissors that you use on your groin or in your nose either_. His youngest son, and his youngest grandson, having the scissors had never crossed his mind; he had just figured that they had been left behind at his father's place—since he wasn't able to locate his father after breakfast was consumed, he hadn't been able to ask him if he could check his place for them.

He was honestly surprised that he had any sort of use for a pair of scissors; after what happened between he and Kankuranger, he was very lucky to be alive. After placing the pair of scissors on the dresser, he was instantly reminded of his being asked about the events that occurred during the near-conclusion of his first first with Kankuranger and about what happened after the fight ended.

"All I know is the basics—that you spent twenty thousand years in cryospace, and then seventy-nine thousand years out of cryospace. What happened both before and after you left cryospace?" Angel, he recalled, asked him on a rather cold, blustery afternoon.

Though it had taken some thinking-time—about fours days worth, actually—he had come clean with her on what happened; the call had been made with the sole, initial intention of her wanting to see how he and his were, and about how his monkeys and lizards were, and about if he wanted to spend an off-afternoon with her on Earth. The conversation had been put to a fast conclusion after she started asking him about his ordeal with Kankuranger. After four days passed, he had rang her up and then asked if she had time to swing by Glen of Nablodrak at around ten minutes to twelve in the afternoon of June 12—the date and time had been set, then they had gone their separate ways, then, at around the time of the scheduled meeting, they sat down to dine and then talk of the events that she wanted to know.

He had barely survived the first fight with Kankuranger; the bastard had taken a weapon—a gun that fired a very high-powered laser—out and then used it on him. His clothes, his skin, and nearly all of his muscles had been burned away after the trigger was touched—before the gun was used, and, he liked to think, before the idea of the gun "needing" to be used came to the guy, the battle between them had been long and grueling; three hours of fighting, with him being either all on top or nearly all on top of the guy, occurred before the coward decided to whip the gun out. After the trigger was released of its pressure, the guy walked up to him, then asked him how he "felt" before pointing the gun back at him. He, by the Grace of the Almighty Gods, had found the strength needed to teleport before the second round of being fired at occurred—Mooshang had been on his mind at the time and that was where his still-steaming body landed; he had come very close to dying after appearing on the planet.

Luck must of been on his side because he had teleported to where a church was; a team of priests and nuns, after seeing his near-dead self, had put him on a stretcher, then had taken him into the church, then had started praying over him before initiating the move in sprinkling his body with Holy Water. It had taken him three hours before finding the strength needed to say _Roklar's... contact Dr. Whekbar_.

"I fainted after saying that." he said to her, who had been listening, and taking in all that he told to her, very keenly. "One of the priests took a trip to the far north of where I was found at after phoning Roklar's, which is a very top secret facility that very few know of. While it was difficult to get into the facility, and while he had to fuss and fight with one of the Generals that kept watch of the facility, he did manage to bring a few people back to look at me."

After waking, he had said two words before finding himself as falling back into that black, dreamless world that had been his constant companion for nearly a hundred thousand years; the name that he had said had been the ticket to his living to the present, and to his getting the treatment that he needed so he'd not look like a cripple—or like something out of a horror movie.

An ambulance had been called; he had been put in it, then checked into, before being carted to the facility that the priest went to. A sort of drug had been given to him to force him into being awake after he reached the facility—due to their needing his verbal consent in order to do the experimental procedure that was needed to be done for him to live, and due to their needing his signature on a contract that'd say that he was deceased, it had been required for him to be aroused from his dreamless sleep. After being explained what was both needed and wanted to be done on him, and after being told to sign the contract, and after signing the contract, he had been carted to a long, cylindrical vat. All sorts of tubes had been put up the cavity that was his nose, then into his mouth and other orifices; after the tubes were in-place, he was placed in the vat and then left alone. A sort of blue liquid had flown over him from the vat's many holes; it had just reached his face when a white gas was released—the twenty thousand years of his being in the vat had happened after the gas forced him into a prolonged sleep.

The people who had manned the cryospace chamber had done round-about work on making sure that the chemicals for tissue and muscle regrowth were flowing into the chamber, and that his vitals were both fine and being recorded, and that nothing amiss happened. All while he was being healed up, his family—which, at the time, consisted of just his two sons and ten daughters—were mourning his death.

"They were still mourning my "death" when I was taken from the vat and then placed in the room that I found myself as being in after waking from my too-long sleep."

According to the team of doctors and nurses, all that had been wearing white and blue gowns and/or jackets, the experiment had been a success; all of his flesh, and veins and muscles, had been re-grown over the bone and organs that had been left exposed to the elements by the first round of that laser gun being fired at him. They had also said that he was nearly back to being himself again—after being told that he might not grow hair on his body again, he had sighed and then reached down underneath the sheet that had been over him.

The laser gun, while causing most of his flesh, veins, and muscles to "melt" away from him, hadn't been able to tamper with his penis or testicles—before the gun was whipped out and then used, he had received a crippling kick down there; his hands being cupped over that part of his body had protected that part of him from being zapped away. He had been more than a little happy over feeling, and then seeing, that his manhood was still there—he could deal with his being no longer able to grow hair on his body, and he could live without an ear or an arm or leg, or without both of his ears, arms, and legs, but he didn't think he could live without having the part that made a man a man.

After waking up, he had been given three to four days to rest before the process of his regaining the full use of his body occurred; during them three to four days, he had wondered what his children were up to and if they had had any children of their own and if they had made anything of themselves and, most importantly, if they still remembered him.

The process of regaining the full use of his body, and of making the regrown muscle reattach itself to the tendons of his body, was a long and painful one; according to the doctors in charge of his care, while his body was back to being what it had formerly been, and while the muscle was present on him, the muscle was hollow—as the doctors said it, it had just been hanging on his body "for show".

"Very nearly gave up several times during the therapy, and physical training, that was given to me."

The pain had been so bad; all of the medication in the Universe that one used for pain management hadn't even cut through the cheese on him—if not for them doctors and nurses, and for the two priests that looked after him during the times where he partaked in trying to regain himself in his religion, he would of given up.

He had walked while having two, steel bars being alongside his body; he had lifted two pound dumbbells for months before getting his cue to go on to lifting the five and then the seven and so on and so forth; he had done the arm-stretching thing; and he had used an exercise bike for thousands of years before receiving word that he could leave Roklar's. He left the facility seventy-eight thousand, four hundred, and ninety-two years after being admitted to it; while he hadn't been fully healed, or in-tune with himself, the doctors had assured him that they had done all that they could for him and that the rest of the process of regaining his body was his and his alone.

A small cottage, that overlooked a cliff, had already been in his name at the time—how that had managed to stay in his name was beyond him but it had; he had gone to it and he had used it for the rest of his stay on Mooshang. He had continued with his physical training and therapy after reaching that cottage, and he had also kept tabs on his family while living in that cottage—he still owned that place to that day; he had no intent in getting rid of it or in having it demolished.

The doctors had said that he'd not have the full-range of use of his muscles, and that some of his muscle mass might fall on him, before he left the facility—he was more than proud to boast that they were wrong. They had also said that his mobility with his arms and legs wouldn't be like it use to be and that he wouldn't be able to have anymore children too—all of this had been proven as incorrect too.

"I have full mobility, Girl. I can use my arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet, toes, and muscles to their full extent and, as you know, I'm also very able in putting out the juices in being able to make children." he had said.

While he had been a little embarrassed by admitting this to her—it had taken him a few minutes to do it, and to get up and then go to where she was sitting—, he was also able to grow hair on his body. He had to shave his private area three times a month, and he had to clip the hairs that grew in his nose two times a month, and, on occasion, he did shave the hair that decided to grow on his arms. He wasn't all that "hairy" a person, so he didn't have to deal with having to shave his arms all the time, and he had never been one to grow much hair on his legs, so he didn't have to put but so much care into shaving what grew on them parts of his body.

Before showing his ugly, but very much alive mug to the Universe, he had gone by the alias of Bofalis Shragle—for about five hundred and eight years, that was; before taking on that name, he just donned an invisibility cloak and then moved about, grabbing what all he needed or getting some out-of-the-house exercise.

The rest was history; he had married, had made four more children, and had made a return to the conquering scene. He had also gone back to defeat Kankuranger—who he had the stuffed remains of in his trophy room.

His father being returned from Limbo was a surprise to him; he owed Angel his thanks for that as, if not for her going to the planet that she called "Jupiter", then finding his remains, then rearranging his remains before placing her bleeding hand on them, he'd not have him in his life.

"Selik and Sudir had these?" DuruVile asked Tazir.

"Unless one of my staff took them, then played toss-the-scissors, yes, they did." TazirVile replied.

"Hazaar alright?" DuruVile asked.

"Must be—according to Angel, he's showering." TazirVile said.

"I'll be sure in taking care of matters with your brother." DuruVile said. "Thank you for returning the scissors."

"No problem," TazirVile responded. After saying this, he started down the hall, towards the stairs that'd take him to the house's fifth level.

In order to get himself fully clean, he had to take three showers; after donning a pair of green jeans, that were faded at the knees, and a brown and gray t-shirt, that had net-like sleeves on it, he checked to see if his hair was both still on his head and was strong enough to remain on his head. A single tug did the trick, while a session in braiding, and then de-braiding, half of it assured him that it was fine. After doing this, he left the bathroom; the first thing that his eyes landed on, after entering the main area that was his bedroom, was his stereo.

Since he didn't want to leave his bedroom, and since he wanted to sit, or lie, on his bed and read a magazine or two before being called down for a meal—which would either be half-eaten or not eaten at all—, he went to put some music on. A mixed-song disc, that had songs that were just on hair on it, was taken down then put in the machine; the button for the machine to turn on was pressed, then the spell that'd cause everything that happened in his room to not be heard from outside of it was done, then he went to his bookcase.

If he had been asked if he was obsessed with his hair, or with hair in general, he would of said no—which was the truth; he wasn't obsessed with his hair, or with hair in general, at all. He liked his hair, and he liked how it grew, and he liked its color fine but he could live without it if he absolutely had to, and he didn't spiff his hair up all the time either. The piece of paper, that was taped to one of the disc's container's sides, said that it had twenty songs on it—Almost Cut My Hair by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; Bangs by They Might Be Giants; Bald by The Darkness; Cut My Hair by The Who; Cut Your Hair by Pavement; Devil's Haircut by Beck; Devilock by The Misfits; and Get a Haircut by George Thorogood, among others. After taking one of his magazines down from the bookcase, then sitting on his bed, the first song on the disc started playing—either it was coincidence or he was just not having all that grand an afternoon because, right when the first song started playing, a knock on the door was heard.

He grumbled, but he didn't ignore the one who had knocked on his door. After placing his magazine to the side, then pressing the PAUSE button on his stereo, he went to the door; once the door was opened, he blinked his eyes. It was his father who had knocked on his bedroom door.

"Uhhh... hello." lame; he knew how lame it was for him to address the man in that way but... but that was all that he could think of to say. He was very nearly paralyzed after thinking that his father had come to square-off with him on what happened between he and Sudir and Selik.

"Hello Hazaar," TazirVile said in return. "How've you been?"

"Good," Hazaar blinked his eyes. "you?"

"Very well, son. Seems that you had an altercation with Selik and Sudir earlier."

"Yeah,"

"I see your mother fixed your hair up—it's back to normal again." his father said after taking one to two steps into his room. "She claims that you gave her your hair after you and Sudir were separated, is that right?"

"Yes,"

"Very wise of you to do. You aware the Repousser Potion, son?"

"Yeah—it can either be taken by mouth or through a syringe." Hazaar answered. "Makes whatever was lost, meaning a limb, digit, ear, or hair, grow back."

"Good boy," his father sounded pleased. "While I have that potion on-hand, I'm glad that your mother knows and did the spell instead." after saying this, he moved the bundle, that he was holding behind his back, to his front-side. "Still doing your model?"

"Had to stop—no paint." Hazaar said. A couple of days ago, he had asked his mother if she'd get him some paint; his father had said that he'd take care of it after learning that he was out of just about all of the colors that he used to paint with. He liked to believe that, due to all of the shit that had been going on, his father hadn't been able to get him the paint that he needed.

"You have plenty now." TazirVile said. He pushed the bundle that he was holding into Hazaar's arms before turning to leave the room. "Don't damage your hearing with that stereo now."

"Thanks dad!"


	23. Chapter 23

All interest in reading a magazine while listening to some music was forgotten after the bundle of model-use paints was given to him; after closing the door to his bedroom, then turning his stereo back on, he took the bundle to his desk then started arranging the paints that were in it in order of either size or color. Once the paints were out and in the order that he wanted them to be in, he got down and nasty in finishing the engine of his jet-propulsion train model.

While he didn't know what a jet-propulsion train looked like, and while he had never seen one in person, he had a feeling that it was a mostly gray color; the seals on the jars of gray paint were broken, then the caps were removed, then he set to work in painting what he needed to paint. In all, it took him an hour, maybe an hour and a half, to get it finished. After getting the engine finished, then setting it to the side so it could dry properly, he went to work in both building and then painting the two cars that had come with it; he spent an hour to nearly two hours on them before deciding to put all of his paints away. He used the bathroom to wash the brushes that he had used, then he dried the bristles on a piece of toilet paper, then he returned to his bedroom; the paintbrushes were put, bristle-down, in one of the paint thinner bottles then he checked to see if the parts to his model had enough space between them—he didn't want them to be too close to one another, or become "paint-glued" to each another. After seeing that everything was in good order, and that everything in the area that he built his models on was arranged in a somewhat organized way, he shut his stereo off then left his room.

The clock on his bedside table said that it was nearing 8:50—momma, he thought, would either be halfway done with supper or done with supper by now. After leaving his room, then locking the door behind him, he went towards the stairwell that'd take him to the house's second level.

"Hope that this meal won't be ruined like the last couple of days' meals have been." he thought after reaching the stairwell. He descended it quickly then he started on his way down the hallway; he had no more gotten to the middle-portion of the hallway before stopping.

Something must be up, he thought after seeing what was coming towards him; the odd, sapient-looking, mutant bat-like thing, that was coming down the hallway, had a very dark blue skin complexion and a lean body build that had decent muscle on it. The eyes that were in the creature's face were a glowing golden-yellow color, and had small, black pupils in their centers; the head that they were in was triangular shaped. The ears that were on the creature's head were elongated, and went all the way across his shoulders. Oddly enough, the creature's ears had dingy white skulls on their ends.

When the creature drew closer to him, he saw that he had a maw of sharp, white teeth; the horns, that were on his head, were gray in color. Along with looking ringed, they swept back gracefully—there was no hint of menace in the horns, or in the eyes, come to think of it. Now that the creature was closer to him, he could see that his eyes had an inexperienced and not very intelligent look to them—he was fast in thinking that the creature had either not done or seen much in his life or that he wasn't very smart thanks to the look that was present in his eyes.

He stood about six foot, two and a half inches tall; the muscle, that was on his chest, arms, and shoulders, was able to be seen thanks to his not wearing a shirt. The collar, that was around his neck, had a chain running from it; this chain attached to the brown belt that was around the creature's waist. The pair of pants that he was wearing were a medium-blue color; it looked like they were ripped in more than five places. The boots, that were on his feet, were black; the wrist and ankle guards, that were on his wrists and ankles, were also black but they had several silver spikes jutting from them. When the creature turned to the side, to allow for a group of three Goblins to go by him, he was able to see that he also had decent muscle on his back—thanks to the creature's action in turning to the side, he was also able to see that he had a pair of wings on his back; except for the interior, which was red, they were a very dark blue color. He was fast in thinking that the creature didn't use the wings as a means to get from one place to another—not only were they ripped in more than three places but they didn't look up to the part in holding his weight during flight.

When the creature got to him, he wasn't but so surprised that he spoke to him. When he spoke, he was instantly reminded of who he was.

"What're you looking at, Runt?" the creature, who was none other than his uncle and aunt's second oldest son, TriskullVile Vuupipii Surfeit, spat.

"Nothing more than a mutant bat." Hazaar spat back.

"You best watch your tongue. I'm ninety-six thousand, eight hundred, and fifty years old—an elder, and you will respect that." the man said.

"And if I don't, Vuupipii?" Hazaar asked.

"Triskull—Vuupipii is my middle name." Triskull said.

"I'll leave a memo with my father about the mutant bat that's moving about the hallways." Hazaar said as he moved past the man who, technically, was his cousin.

All while leaving the man behind, and going down the hallway, towards the twin staircases that'd take him to the house's first level, he wondered why Triskull was in the house. He hadn't been in the house earlier... before the event of his being bullied by Sudir and Selik, none of Uncle Kuruk and Aunt Irka's adult children had been in the house. What sort of crazy events had happened during his time in being in his bedroom? Had the old man decided to cave to the "demands" that everyone seemed to be putting on him in calling a few people over so they could "see" and "interact" with him and his brothers or had something else happened?

He wondered this and more all while descending the stairwell that wound around the foyer's right side; after descending the stairwell, he let his nose take him to where he wanted to go. There was a very heavy aroma on the house's first level that was just intoxicating, he figured that it was coming from the food that his mother was probably done in making.

While going down the hallway that came from the foyer, he thought that his nose would take him to the house's smaller kitchen—while he knew of there being two kitchens in the house he had yet to see the bigger one, and he had yet to see or hear about any of his family seeing it too. He was quite surprised when his nose took him to the second hallway that branched off the one that came from the one that ran into the foyer. He guessed that his nose was making the decision for him on his checking out the house's bigger kitchen—after going past three doors, he came upon one that resembled the type that'd be used on saloons. He looked at the oddly placed, half-swing, white-colored doors for a few seconds before pushing one open and then going into the room that they sat before.

He had no sooner entered the room before finding himself as being uninterested in looking at its decor; he wanted to both stay and leave the room after seeing that his family, who were all in the room, had "company" with them.

"Let us be glad that my brother doesn't claim any of these weaklings as his grandchildren." the woman, who was leaning against one of the kitchen's many counter-tops, said. "Tall and rail-thin," the woman looked at the new-comer to the room for a second before continuing. "and short, that's them. You really should of stayed with my brother, Angel."

"I had no control over what happened and neither did Tazzy." Angel replied. "Personally, I'm glad that it happened—wouldn't have my four boys if his being picked as one of my husbands didn't happen."

"Nonsense! You'd have four boys, and maybe a daughter or two, if he hadn't come into the picture." the woman shot. "And all would be better boned, balanced, and would have a better height to th—"

"And they'd all come from rape." Bile commented.

"Bile Vile, your daddy did not rape your mother!" the woman exclaimed. "Your conception was by natural ways—she's filled your head with lies!"

"Her "lies" must have truth to them. The scar, that he put on her when he tried, and half-so succeeded in killing her, is still on her stomach." Bile pointed out.

"She got that by birthing the last brat that she—"

"Watch yourself, Dara Dara!" Angel said after wheeling herself around to facing the woman. "I'm glad I have my four boys, and I don't intend to have any further offspring by the man who sired both me and my oldest son."

"Might be changing your mind when he gets here." Dara Dara said. "He'll be trying hard to move you away from them three weaklings, and from Tazir."

"I highly doubt if my mother allows for him to do that." Lhaklar said. "If he could, he'd of already done so, right mom?"

"Right, Lhakie." Angel said. She gave her son a smile before resuming the task of making that night's meal.

Dara Dara and Triskull, her grandparents' oldest daughter and secondborn son, wouldn't be in the house if her grandfather hadn't called and then invited them over; Tazir had sure not been happy after hearing that the two were in the house, or that his brother had been the one to let them in. After hearing that Kuruk had given them the unauthorized invite to come over, and that he had let them in, he had tracked him down and then had a good, heart-to-heart conversation with him on how the invite-sending was to happen and on his not liking how he was being so "free" in inviting people over or openly letting people who weren't expected to come over in. Her grandfather, while expressing his apologies, had done the shoulder shrug thing before saying that it needed to be done. Dara Dara and Triskull, she did believe, were all set-up on the house's second level; Triskull was somewhere in the house while Dara Dara had broken her neck in both unpacking her things and in tracking her down. All while making supper, she had heard rant after rant about the woman's brother.

Lhaklar and Lazeer had been with her at the time of the woman's arrival and then starting rants while Bile had been upstairs, either listening to music or making out a list of stuff that he wanted her to get for him at the start of next month. Bile was just ten minutes arrived to the room; while either helping her out, or standing idly by, she had caught him doing the eye-roll thing several times. Hazaar was now being given the scoop on the two extras that were in the house—judging by how he looked in the face, she knew that he was both nervous and annoyed about Dara Dara and Triskull's arrival.

Dara Dara had taken more after her mother than her father; her hair was the lightest of blue color, she had a ring of bright blue crystals surrounding her light blue face, and she had bright blue eyes. Her hair was wavy, and was as long as could be, while her fingernails were a dark blue color and were around a half inch in length—the curl that was present to them looked uncomfortable but the woman who had them didn't look to be fazed by them.

She was ninety-seven thousand, eight hundred, and fifty years old; while she hadn't done much in her life, her eyes did show her age well. Her long-flowing dress had blue, purple, and black synthetic crystals on it; the blue heels, that were on her feet, were a near match to the dress. The blue diamond ring, that was on her left pinky-finger, was just as real as the crystals that ringed her face; the ring, while being rather pretty, and while looking to be right at home on her finger, wasn't from her lover or from one who she was to marry sometime in the future—like Triskull, she was single and childless. Along with having a rather petite body build, she stood a petite, five foot, two inches.

Despite being rather lovely in appearance, she did have a bit of a disagreeable attitude and demeanor—she sometimes wondered if this was the reason to why she hadn't met anyone to be steady with or had married and then had a few kids to spoil or become worried about.

"Need help, ma?" Bile asked after seeing that she had taken a bowl down from one of the kitchen cabinets. Seeing as there were a few extras in the house, she figured that she'd best make two cakes for the planned dessert—Triskull, though being very manly, was a fan of coconut poke cake while Dara Dara was a fan of Chocolate Flan; she was hoping to make one of each to both act as a house warmer and to appease them.

"Icing? Decorating? Making? Or—" Lhaklar started to ring out a list of what she might need help in doing.

"You two are much too sweet," Angel said. She grabbed the ingredients that'd make the Chocolate Flan before saying anything more. "Bile, if you're intent on helping, can you check to see if any of the pies are done? Lhaklar, can you get me a box of white cake mix, and the ingredients that's needed to make it with? I'll also need a can of condensed milk and cream of coconut—both can be found in the Dry Pantry, honey."

"What about us?" Hazaar and Lazeer asked at once.

"I don't suppose anyone'll throw up a fuss over an army-sized bowl of Banana pudding being made." Angel speculated aloud.

"We'll get started right away." Hazaar said before wheeling on his brother and then issuing out the order of, "Lazeer, get the mix!"

"I shall only obey you for a nickel." Lazeer replied while going off to where the Dry Pantry was. After entering the room, which was to the far left of the house's bigger kitchen, he grabbed five boxes of banana-flavored pudding; after doing a few second pause to think things over, he grabbed five more boxes of pudding mix.

"Bile's habit of using 'ma' will be one of the things that my brother will be putting an end to when he gets here. Ma is something a child would say, Angel. At his age, he should be saying—" Dara Dara was saying when he left the Dry Pantry.

"He can call me whatever mom-term he wants to." Angel said, effectively cutting Dara Dara off. "How're them pies, Bile?"

"Not sure... a few ran off after I opened the door to the oven, ma." Bile replied. "They're probably on the other side of the house by now."

"What pies did you make, momma?" Hazaar asked.

"Cherry, apple, and raspberry." Angel replied. "Made two of each."

"Which ones ran off, Bile-O?" Hazaar asked.

"Uhhh... the Cherry and the... I think it was the Raspberry." Bile replied while walking two of the pies that had been in the oven to one of the kitchen's counter-tops. "Those were the only ones that looked done, ma."

"Let's take Bile to the emergency room and quick—I want my cherry pie back!" Lazeer cried.

"I didn't eat them... they ran off—I'm innocent of what you're accusing me of doing!" Bile laughed.

The Crystal Princess, as he suddenly decided to call her in secret, left after everyone started getting busy in making what their mother wanted to be made for that night's dessert course; though pretty, and looking to be right nice, she seemed to have a part to her that was hidden that wasn't very desirable to one of the male gender—he was personally glad that she left the room. No more hearing her berate their mother, or say that Master Vile was better than the man who had either sired or adopted them, and no more hearing that they were badly bred. After the woman was gone, he and his brothers set in on putting their all into what they were given to do.

He stirred five of the ten boxes of pudding in one bowl while Hazaar stirred the rest in a separate bowl; when they were done in stirring, they filled the bottom of a silver dish with wafer cookies before covering them with pudding. They did this a number of times before, finally, saying that their task was done and then "calling it quits" on doing anything else.

Lhaklar was allowed to do the task of making the cake; after the mixture was done, he placed a layer of graham crackers down in a metal cookie sheet, that had high sides on it. With the graham crackers in the cookie sheet, he poured the mixture in. It took twenty to twenty-five minutes for the cake to cook; when it was done, their mother took over in punching holes in it. The cake, after having the can of condensed milk and cream of coconut poured over it, was put in the fridge, where it remained for nearly an hour before being removed. A layer of whipped topping, and toasted coconut, finished that item off. During the wait for the condensed milk and cream of coconut to set-in on the cake, their mother made the Chocolate Flan—this was the final item that was made for that night's dessert course; the pies had already been removed from the oven, and the main course was ready and waiting to be taken to the table.

"Ma made chicken earlier." Bile said after the dessert course was done in being made. "One of the trays has undercooked chicken on it while another has overcooked chicken on it; the one in the middle has normal-cooked chicken on it."

"Made enough for everyone." Angel said after whistling for someone to come help her and her sons in taking everything to the table.

"My momma is so nice—she thinks about everyone come suppertime." Hazaar said.

"I'd be a criminal if I didn't, Hazie." Angel said.

"What else was made?" Hazaar asked.

"A few steaks, some leg of lamb and..." Angel stopped to think of what else she had made for that night's main course. Ulision hadn't been able to clock-in that morning; the claim of his not feeling well had been made. With his not manning the bigger kitchen, she had made the decision to man it herself.

Shaam was a fan of eating undercooked lasagna, so she had made him a dish of that; her grandfather was fond of eating leg of lamb, so she had made enough of that for both him and for the others that might also want to consume that; Triskull was a fan of pepper steak and beef sausage, so she had made him, and the other members of her family that might want to dine on that, some of that; and Dara Dara was leaning more towards the side of being a vegan, so she had made her something that'd mesh well with that preference. The chicken had been made at the last second—it was more for her, and her children, than for the others that were to dine at the table that night.

After speaking of what she had made that evening, she whistled again for someone to come help her and her sons in taking what was made to the table. It seemed to take forever before her husband finally came into the room and then started taking up some of the items that were on the counter-tops; she and her sons did the same then followed him after he left the room.

Why the hired help hadn't come when she signaled for them to do so was beyond her; just because she was working the bigger kitchen, and not the smaller one, didn't mean that she, or her whistle-made signals, should be ignored. She was slightly annoyed by no one coming to her and her sons' assistance after her first, and then second, whistle was given.

When they passed by one of the hallway clocks, she both learned the reason to why no one had come to her assistance and was astonished to learn that it was heading on ten o'clock—the hired help was nearly an hour past clocking out, and supper was late in being placed on the table. She viewed the latter as not being good; she hoped that everyone still had their appetites—she hadn't meant for the meal to get to the table so late!

"With me taking a few-hour nap, and with Dara Dara clawing at my backside about this and that, I wasn't able to get but so early a start on making supper." she thought after they reached the dining room.

They made several trips between the bigger kitchen and the dining room before finally taking their seats then getting started on the late-given meal; Tazir, as usual, started the meal off by lifting several of the trays' lids. He made himself a plate, then poured himself a glass of ice milk and lemon tea, before sitting down. Duru and Kuruk made their plates after his was made, then Shaam and most of the Ubalki's followed suit; in all, it took a few minutes for everyone to have a plate before them.

Of the ones that made themselves a plate, it was only Tazir, her sons and Eshal, Cheshire and his family, and Qeeta that dived in on what they had made for themselves; she was automatically enraged, and depressed, after seeing that everyone else was either looking at what they had made for themselves or doing the poke-routine with their utensils.

"Bastards! We did what we could, they should be glad to have what they have before them." Bile thought angrily.

"So it was a little late—we busted our balls as hard as we could." Lhaklar thought.

"Hope you choke on it you unappreciative dorks." Hazaar thought.

"One spoils it for all, like mom says. We haven't spoiled anything—we worked hard to make everything and this is what we get in return... most everyone poking at what they made, and very few eating what's on their plates." Lazeer thought after seeing what most of his family were doing. "Mom would of said for us to perk up or leave the table if we were doing what they are."

"So, Lass." ShaamVile said after finally deciding to push his plate from him. He cleared his throat before going on. "You sent my uncle a letter, or called him yet?"

"I haven't been allowed to do neither." Angel replied. "Been too busy to—"

"Lass, you've had plenty of time. I've seen twenty chances that you could of called or written." ShaamVile had a hot, angered look on his face. "You just going to let what happened become like bad blood between you two? Do you know his phone number or—"

"I know his phone number and home address—if certain people weren't barking all over my sons' backs, and weren't driving me crazy, I'd of written and then mailed out what I had written to him." Angel had an equally hot, angered look on her face.

"No one's been barking up the boys' backs, or driving you crazy, Lass."

"My grandfather taking items of theirs," Angel started counting on her fingers. "You trying to slip me the pill to make my milk dry up; my grandparents trying to keep me away from my sons; and Sudir and Selik's action of ganging up on Hazaar and then cutting his hair off. You think I've had time to do much of anything? I can barely find time to cook much less take a piss!"

"We've been trying to help you, Lass!" ShaamVile said after standing from his chair. His hands were flat against the table; he had an enraged look on his face; and his voice was heavily laced with anger that around half of the table's inhabitants thought wasn't needed to be expressed.

"You've been trying to turn me into what you think is a "Perfect Mother"!" Angel came close to screaming. She stood from her chair, then slammed her hands on the table after saying this; Bile was fast in leaning to the side while Cheshire and Ashaklar blinked their eyes in surprise. Cheshire, after the hand-slamming event occurred, gave the signal for his wife to take Phaggo, Blaiga, Defe, and Qhuakiz from the room, which she was fast in doing.

"We have n—" ShaamVile's voice was so loud that Eshal, who was sitting beside him, jumped and then leaned to the side. She, after jumping, and then leaning to the side, was fast in giving her father a scared look.

"You have." Cheshire said. He, who knew that some sort of altercation was about to happen, removed his goggled monocle; it was slid into the brown leather case, that he had taken from one of his vest pockets, after it was removed from his face. "She can't so much as speak to the boys without having one of you chomping and clawing at her back."

"You stay out of this Commoner." DuruVile barked.

"Angel's just as much family to me as she is to you," Cheshire snapped. "From what I've seen, she's a fine mother. She's done a better than fine job of mothering her sons during her years in being away from us, and she's continuing to do so with both them and Eshal after being returned to us. Besides me, my family, and Qeeta, it's just Tazzy, the boys, and Eshal who give her any respect. I've seen no respect from you and your lot being given to her."

Supper was over and she knew it; after everyone started snapping at one another, and after Angel started expressing herself over the events that she had witnessed over the last several days, she decided to collect the children that wished to leave the room.

Efagti and Amadh stood up after seeing her signal, then Bile and his brothers stood up, then Eshal got up from her chair; none of the other children got up from their chairs or heeded her advice in leaving the room. With the ones that wanted to leave the room standing, she started towards the doorway that was to the northern side of the room. The children followed behind her slowly, and silently.

It almost sounded like a war was going on behind them; Angel and Shaam were screaming at one another, and Tazir was yelling at either Kuruk or Duru. Qeeta, she could tell, was having it out with both Cyla and Dara Dara—with Dara Dara being a new arrival, she guessed that she was only becoming involved to "fit in".

After a room was found, then opened and entered, she heard her husband; it sounded like he was giving both Duru, Kuruk, and Shaam an earful, and it also sounded like he only just managed to avoid a strike too.

Once they were in the room, and once the room's door was shut, they went to sit down. It was quiet for the longest of time before she finally decided to break the silence.

"We'll let them hash it out for a while," Ashaklar said. The looks, that were on the faces of Bile and his brothers' faces, and that was on Eshal's face, said a nice story; she saw disappointment, rage, confusion, concern, and distress on their faces in various degrees. Bile was plain angry; Lhaklar was angry and disappointed; Hazaar had a mixture of anger, disappointment, and distress on his face; and Lazeer was just plain distressed. Eshal looked to be trying to keep the emotion of sadness from creeping into her face, which was flooded with both disappointment, confusion, and concern. After noting the looks that were present on her grandchildrens' faces, she said, "I suppose your mother won't mind if I told everyone who followed me to hit the desserts after everything's calmed down."

"She'd probably be glad that you did. Unless we've done something really bad, she's not one for any of us to go without a meal." Bile replied distantly.

"Regardless of what them fools say, she's a fine mother." Amadh said.

"Best mom in the Universe." Lazeer mumbled.

"You four seem to love her greatly." Ashaklar said.

"More than anything," Bile said. After saying this, he clamped his mouth shut; with what he had just witnessed, he was both close to screaming and crying his eyes out.

"You four, and Eshal, are very lucky to have her as your mother, and she's very lucky to have you as her sons and daughter." Ashaklar said to her grandchildren.

Efagti and Amadh left their nephews, and niece, be; they knew that they were upset and they also knew that they had a good damn reason to be so. Phaggo and Blaiga moved over to the room's far right side while Defe and Qhuakiz went to their mother; they had only just reached their mother when Bile and his brothers started getting hysterical.

Lhaklar, after moving over to the room's far left side, started crying; Bile, who remained where he was, sniffled twice before having a complete emotional breakdown. Hazaar and Lazeer went to either the upper left or right corner of the room then sat down; they cried while facing the wall.

Efagti and Amadh, after two minutes passed, went to Lhaklar and Lazeer; while Amadh comforted Lazeer, Efagti spoke to and gave Lhaklar some comfort. Eshal made her rounds in giving each of her brothers a hug after her uncles went off to comfort Lhaklar and Lazeer. Blaiga and Defe ganged up on Bile for a group hug; Eshal was fast in bringing Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer over to join them. Ashaklar, who knew that the last several days hadn't been all that grand for the boys, signaled for her sons to join the girls in hugging Bile and his brothers. It took around ten minutes of group-hugging and comfort giving before the boys calmed down; at around the time that the boys were calm, everything in the dining room mellowed out—most everyone who had stayed in the dining room left the room then went to their assigned chambers. TazirVile, Cheshire, and Qeeta did the task of taking everything that was on the table to the house's bigger kitchen, where it was stored for, they hoped, the meal that'd take place tomorrow. While they didn't know the reason to why they did so, they left everything that had been made for that night's dessert course on the kitchen's counter-tops.

"If everyone's still up to it, follow me to where the desserts are." Ashaklar said after everyone was calm. She opened the room's door then led the way to the house's bigger kitchen; the ones that were in the room followed her as she went to the room quietly.


	24. Part 3

The dark red Buick Lucerne, a vehicle that she had found one day while on the way home from work, and a vehicle that had been in very piss-poor shape until she decided to right it to sitting on its tires and then fix up to call her own, drove very smoothly down the road; despite the smooth ride, and the even smoother trip from Tazir's place to Gamma Vile, she glanced at the passenger seat nervously.

The cream-colored leather, that was on the seat, had been put there by her; after getting the car fixed up on the outside—getting all the dents and scratches removed from the car's body, and getting the rust removed and then painted over, and replacing the windows—she had taken a trip to a shop that specialized in car parts and accessories. The back passenger seats, the leather covering that was on the seats, the tires and engine, and the cream-colored upholstery had all been purchased from the shop and then applied to her car. The seat that she glanced at had a light tan suede bag, that had tassels hanging from its middle, and a short shoulder strap, on it; all of what she'd need for any trip was in it.

The Art Nouveau leather and silver plated coin purse, that had a burnished cicada bug clasp on it, had two rolls of coins, that were M-51 Galaxy approved, in it; the tan leather wallet had fifty dollars in it; and the brown leather case, that Hazaar had found for her one day while sifting through the many junk-piles that were in the dump that was in Green River, Wyoming, had a few Moas-issued credit cards in it. While the Art Nouveau coin purse had been found by Bile—another dump-find, but a good one that was being put to good use—, she had been the one to purchase the tan leather wallet—she had needed a wallet and she had made the decision to "treat" herself by spending the $28.06 on the one that was currently in her bag. Along with a few Moas-issued credit cards, the brown leather case also had the invite for Trobrencus and his family in it—seeing Trobrencus was the only reason to why she was on Gamma Vile in the first place.

Along with them things, her bag also had a small pocketknife and canister of pepper spray in it—these were only to be used in an emergency; she neither wanted to be jumped and then either robbed or raped and she also didn't want to run the risk of someone trying to get the upper hand on her by thinking that they can abduct and then hold her for ransom either.

Even though her eyes had wandered to the bag that was on the passenger seat she had really been training her attention on the dog that was on the floorboard of that side of her car; after teleporting to Gamma Vile, then starting the process of going down the road that she had appeared on, she had seen a dog limping in the middle of the road. Instead of going past, and ignoring the animal, she had stopped. She had no more stopped her car before the dog turned and then started towards her—Mr. Pooch, after reaching her, had bathed her with his tongue; while trying to keep the dog back, she had checked the tags that were on the small-link, chain collar that was around his neck.

The first tag had said that the dog had had all of his shots while the second had specific information, like what the dog's name was, and what he was allergic to, and what kind of medicine he needed to take on a daily basis, on it; the third tag was the reason to why the dog was in her car. The name of TrobrencusVile Bloym Surfeit had been listed as the dog's owner on that tag; knowing that Trobrencus was missing a dog, and knowing that he would probably want his dog to be returned to him, she had put the dog in her car and then started off towards the house that both he and she needed to go to.

The dog was either very well trained or very well-behaved; after entering her car, he had just sat down and then started panting. She was quite sure that he was of the Cursinu breed—the coat was black and tan in color, and had a brindle pattern on it; there was a white marking in the center of his chest, and his front feet were white; and he looked to be lacking dewlaps, which the Cursinu breed was known to lack. Before putting him in her car, she had noticed that there was something wrong his left foreleg—there was a bleeding cut on it and, if she was seeing things correctly, it looked like it was broken.

At the time of her stopping to see what was up with the dog, she had been around fifty miles from Trobrencus's place; right now, she was around twenty or so miles from the castle that the man, and his family, lived in.

"No need to turn the radio on—I'm close to Trob's place, and there's something going on with it that's preventing it from playing." she thought after going by a large quantity of land that had a For Sale sign on it.

The last three days had been hell for her and her sons; the fight between her and Shaam had been bad enough to cause them to not speak to one another, and her kids had been bullied almost relentlessly both yesterday and the day before yesterday, and she hadn't been able to speak with her grandparents or great-grandparents without hearing a sort of lecture from them on what she was doing "wrong" with her children. For the most part, she had just spoken and associated herself with her children, her husband, and with the Ubalki's over the last couple of days.

The fight that occurred four days ago hadn't been plain verbal; some of them had gotten physical towards one another. Shaam had swung at her twice, Duru had swung at Cheshire the same amount of times, and Kuruk had tried to swing at her husband and then at her; while she had managed to evade her grandfather's swing, she hadn't been able to do so with Shaam's—the side of her face, and her right elbow, had sung before going numb... Tazir and Cheshire had been livid after seeing her as being struck at; they had gone to her defense almost at once, which was why they had been swung at.

The kids that Ashaklar hadn't been able to remove from the room—Duru and Cyla's, and Kuruk and Irka's—had seen, and heard, everything that happened. While she wished that they hadn't been in the room to witness what they had she had a feeling that they had "enjoyed" what they had seen—Baruk had sure had a devilishly pleased look on his face, and so had Gaajah and Selik, for that matter.

She was glad that her children, Eshal included in the mix, had obeyed Ashaklar in following her from the room; fights between adults, she thought, shouldn't have an audience of children. The boys, and Eshal, had been found in the house's bigger kitchen about twenty minutes after the fight started. They had been eating some of what she had made for dessert that night—after what happened in the dining room, she had been all for their eating what they had; it was better than their going to bed hungry, she thought.

After she, and her children, dined in the smaller kitchen the following morning, she had written Trobrencus and then gotten her husband to send it to him via express. She had yet to hear word from him, which was why she was taking the drive to his place—with the letter being sent via express, she should of heard from him either that same day or the one that followed. That morning, after she and her children ate breakfast in, again, the smaller kitchen, she had gotten herself ready to make the trip; along with asking Tazir, and the Ubalki's, to keep an eye on her children, and telling Bile that he couldn't come with her, she and Tazir had had a quick conversation just before she left the house to retrieve her car.

"Tazzy, I know nothing of the guy when it comes to paying him a visit—you've been to Trob's place, can you give me some pointers on what to do after arriving to his castle?"

Tazir, as far as she knew, had only paid Trobrencus a visit twice; since Shaam wasn't talking to her, and since she wasn't in the mood to get another lecture after asking Kuruk or Duru on what to do after appearing before the man's residence, she had gone to Tazir to see if he'd help her in trying to make her visit go a little more smoother.

She didn't want to just show up to the place, then lay hand on the horn, making all sorts of noise that'd disrupt the area that the castle was in—she wanted to be respectful and she also wanted to make the visit be a correctly handled one. With all that had been going on these last couple of days, she had forgotten the man's number; if not for Tazzy, she wouldn't of been able to put the correct mailing address on the envelope—her husband had been a big help to her and she both thanked and owed him for that.

While visiting a guy that she hardly knew caused her to be a little nervous, and caused the chills to run all up and down her back, she knew that she had to go see him; she felt an obligation to explaining why the events that happened on the 25th of October occurred and she also had no desire in losing him as a family member.

What she knew of the man was quite basic: he could be rather mean, cruel, and nasty with his staff, and with the staff that was employed by other people, and he seemed to be a big family man. How he handled his temper, and his emotions, she didn't know—it was really this that made her nervous. Would the guy bark all down her back after seeing her as driving up to his place? Would a fight happen, where either she or he'd be hurt, or would he just be calm in listening to her speak to him before answering in a normal, non-tempered, way?

"Teleport to a road called Rohyan; after appearing on it, you drive down it a ways before turning onto Xroylo. Once the turn's made, you stay on that road—it takes you right to Trob's place." TazirVile had said after she had asked him for directions on how to get to Trobrencus's place. "After seeing the place, you drive up to the front gate—Trob has a strip under the soil that's before the gate; it'll beep a device that, as far as I know, he always has on his person. After driving up to the gate, you sit and wait for it to open—have the window down so he can see you. If the gate doesn't open in, say, five minutes, you back up and then come home."

A few second pause was made; he had either needed to remember a detail or two or he had been listening to see if he had been called or not. After that few second pause was done, he continued in telling her what she needed to know.

"If he wishes to see and speak with you, he'll press the button on that device to let you in. After the gate's open, you drive through it; follow the driveway to a circular patch of yellow rocks, then park the car, then go to the door. A servant will answer after you knock on the door—Trobrencus's place is big, so you follow that servant like a shadow after he or she lets you in."

Tazir had gotten some work done on her car a couple of weeks ago; the gas tank had been replaced for one that ran on energy and the old tires had been removed and then replaced. Her car, though always being a smooth ride, seemed to have an even smoother ride to it now—while the car wasn't one that Tazir'd drive, she was glad to still have it and still have the right and opportunity to use it.

"I'd say ten more minutes and you'll be home." Angel said to the dog, who thumped his tail after hearing her speaking to him.

After speaking to the dog, she rode on in silence; due to her going thirty miles an hour, the landscape passed by slowly. Gamma Vile was a vastly different planet than Earth in standards of both plant and animal life and in regards to how much radiation it got on a daily basis from the stars that it orbited. The hills, that were to her right, were made of pebbles; the fields that were on either side of her consisted of radiation-poisoned purple grass or normal-colored grass; and the high, smooth, and glass-like mountains, that were in front of her, were quite bright and showy. Like with some who called Moas home, the people who lived on Gamma Vile sometimes took up the poisonous purple grass that surrounded their homes and then replaced it with a terrain of artificial grass—but, unlike the people of Moas, who mostly used a blue-colored grass to cover the ground of their property, they almost always used an artificial terrain that was green.

The minutes passed by slowly before a fence started rolling by; it was black, and wrought iron, and each section had a Fluer-De-Lis topper that had a sharp, middle point on it. The grass beyond the wrought iron fence was both artificial and green in color—to her, it was so lush that it looked odd. Beyond the fence, she saw yet another fence that was white. This white-colored fence disappeared from view; if she had to make any guesses, it surrounded a pasture that either horses or cows lived or moved around in.

While continuing on her way down the road, she saw that the property had a red barn, that had a Gothic-style roof on it, on it. The doors to this barn were open; she was able to see people moving about in its interior, and she thought she saw the silhouette of a horse too. The silo that was beside the barn was normal in all attributes.

The long, flat lake, that she was now driving past, had a lot of lily pads on it; while driving by, she saw a flock of around five ducks, that looked to have a dark green shine to their dark plumage, on it. After taking in the lake, and the ducks that were on it, she turned to tend the dog, who had suddenly started to get a bit excited—the property must be Trobrencus's, she thought; she could think of no other reason for Mr. Pooch to get as excited as he was.

After calming the dog, then turning to look at both the road and the property that was beside her, her mouth dropped in shock; while she had seen castles before, she had never seen one of the caliber that was now able to be seen.

"Trob _lives_ in _that_!"

The structure was a lot bigger than she had thought it'd be; the color was black and it had a single tower on it. Of the three spires that were on the tower, only two had something on them—the one in the middle was bare of anything while the one to its right had a straight pole on it; the spire that was to the left of the middle one looked to have a windcatcher on it.

After drawing closer to the structure, she saw that it had around seven or eight spires on it; she was able to see four chimney stacks and, on a guess, over fifty windows. If she had to make any estimates on how many windows the place had on it, she'd say either a hundred or a little over a hundred. The castle's base was covered in vines and moss—either this was left as a decorative source or Trob's staff had yet to get around to removing it.

After drawing even closer to the structure, she came close to both stopping and then turning the car around—there were people on the property's front lawn! A quick count told her that it was either fourteen or fifteen people that were out and about; some were running around, playing and having a good ol' time, while others were sitting on the grass. From what she was able to see, it looked like there were more girls on the lawn than boys.

Trob was mad at her for what happened on the 25th of October; he might not want her to be anywhere near his family... after seeing her by the property's front gate, then realizing that his family was on the front lawn, he might rush out with the intent of either causing her harm or chasing her away.

She had a time with the dog while driving by the people that were on the property's front lawn; he barked, and then howled, before getting on the passenger seat. He was just starting to get onto her lap when she slowed her progress in going down the road. While it took a bit of effort, she did manage to push the dog back; she told him to sit, and to be quiet, and to calm down, before returning to driving.

There was no way that the dog could get past the property's fence; if he jumped from her lap, and then from her moving vehicle, he might well get more than a broken leg on himself and, if he was unscathed after jumping, he might injure himself on the fence by trying to squeeze through the posts too. Along with her not wanting the dog to cause further injury to himself she also didn't want Trobrencus to target her for the injuries that his dog caused on himself after trying, and then succeeding, in jumping from her car.

The dog was very obedient in staying where he was after she told him to sit and to be quiet and calm down; he whimpered, and he thumped his tail, but he didn't get up or try to get onto her lap or jump from the open window of her vehicle. After going ten miles an hour down the road for around fifty or so yards, she applied a bit of pressure to the gas pedal; it took all of five minutes for her to locate and then drive up to the front gate.

"Just like Taz's," she thought after seeing and then driving up to the wrought iron gate. "He has his initials on it."

The gate was long, and matched with the fence wonderfully; it had a T, a B, and an S designed on it on both sides. The spread-out tree design, that was on it, had vines and moss growing on it. After pulling her car to within a foot of the gate, she put the gear shift into Park mode then waited; while waiting for the gate to open, and for her to be granted "permission" to enter the property that she had driven to, she looked at what else there was to the property.

To the east, she saw another lake; it looked like the same species of ducks, that had the dark green shine to their feathers, were either on it or flying above it. Beyond the lake sat a mini forest. A red and gray brick building was between the mini forest and the castle's eastern wall—if she had to make any guesses, it housed Trob's hunting canines or some goats or sheep.

After taking in the rest of what was in the property's front yard, she thought about the horses that Trobrencus was known to own, breed, and, sometimes, sell. The man bred all sorts of color in his horses but he was more favoring towards the ones that were silver dapple, gray, palomino, and liver chestnut—he preferred for his horses to have lots of leg on them, and trim hindquarters, and a short back. He was one for speed, and he did have an interest in jumping his horses—he also liked to use his horses whenever he was out on a hunt. He kept the manes of his horses long; their tails, while being allowed to grow long, were trimmed so that they didn't go past their hooves. If she recalled correctly, he was very favoring towards the graceful, elegant step that a horse had and he tried to breed that in the horses that he owned.

About fifty years before "taking off" with her sons, she had sent him a letter that had a small paragraph in it that revolved around the Akhal-Teke breed that seemed to only come from Earth; she had also included a photograph of the breed in the letter—a phone call from him had followed that letter being opened and read, and that photograph being looked at. The man had liked how the breed looked, and he had especially liked how the coat had a golden shine to it; after telling him more on the breed, she had found herself as being told to give the phone to Tazir.

As far as she knew, he had asked Tazir to send some of his Goblins to Earth to retrieve four mares and two stallions of that breed for him; sadly, she wasn't able to remember if Tazzy had done so or not.

Trob's father had taught him well on how to ride a horse; she remembered seeing the man astride one of his stallions while out on a hunt with her grandfather and Tazir. Trob had a very well-balanced, graceful, and intelligent movement to him when he rode a horse; he didn't move but so much and he kept his head on his shoulders—no hint of play was expressed in him whenever he was on a horse. She was glad that he kept his head on his shoulder while astride a horse because, if he didn't do that, he could very well be hurt.

"Come on, Trob." Angel sighed; it was now four and a half minutes since she had taken to park before the property's front gate.

After turning to look in an easterly direction again, she saw that there seemed to be a creek leading from the lake that the ducks were either swimming in or flying above; the creek ran a rather winding course all the way to the driveway, which it ended at. After following the creek's winding path, she saw that there was another creek running from the driveway's other side; it ran right over to the front lawn's other lake—going by this alone, she figured that the two creeks were connected to one another and that they went under the driveway.

When she turned to take in the people that were on the lawn, she saw that the area that they were in had a lot of foliage in it. The Italian Cypress, Weeping Willow, pink-flowering Crepe Myrtle trees, and white and pink flowering Dogwood trees almost made the area look too dominated by foliage—in-between all of this was a croquet game; two cast iron tables, that had two chairs pushed underneath them; and a blanket. Two of the people in the area were playing the croquet game while another—a male, by the looks of him—was lying on the hammock, that was stretched between two of the Italian Cypress trees. She was about to take her eyes from the people in the clearing when she saw Bahne walking towards the clearing with a tray that had numerous glasses on it.

TrobrencusVile Bloym Surfeit, she knew, did just about everything to keep his family happy, well-maintained, and healthy; it was no surprise to her that everyone in the clearing was happy and content.

After six minutes passed, Angel figured that she best just let the dog out of her car then head home—Trob would of let her in by now if he wanted to see and speak with her.

"Alright," Angel said after getting out of her car then walking over to front passenger door. After opening the door, she gestured to the dog. "There's a little opening in the fence that I suppose you can—"

The dog thumped his tail just before getting out of her car; once out of her car, he went for the opening that she gestured at—at first, she thought that the opening was too small for him to get through. It was just twenty inches wide, and it was right dead in the center of the gate. The dog, who was obviously very smart, and who obviously also wanted to go home, limped to the opening then proved her wrong by squeezing through; he went, bounding and barking all the way, towards the people that were in the clearing after getting past the gate.

Bahne, who had since placed the tray that had the drinks on it on one of the cast iron tables, turned to look at the dog after hearing him; Angel, who figured that she shouldn't stick around, didn't see what happened next. She got into her car, then started it up, then moved the gear shift from park to reverse, then started the process of backing away from the gate.

She had no more started backing away from the gate when her foot slammed on the brake; what she saw coming down the road just about made her mind spin circles!

"No! Don't you dare—it's not only nearing nine-thirty in the morning but your imagination is running and you need to catch it and fast!" she thought after seeing the car that was coming down the road towards her.

The movie based from Stephen King's novel, Christine, had been seen by her more than once after it hit theaters in 1983; just about everyone had seen the sentient, and violent, vehicle named Christine mow down person after person that crossed its, or its driver's, path... over the years, she had seen around twenty of the fifty remakes that had been done on the original 1983 version—she personally still thought that the original was better than all of the remakes.

The scene from the original film where the vehicle was driving while being engulfed in flames had stuck with her over the years; it was as much of a classic scene as it was a scary one. Except for a few differences, the vehicle that was driving down the road looked very much like the one that had been driven in that scene.

It looked like a Lincoln Zephyr Convertible Sudan; due to the flames, that were whip-lashing all around the car, she wasn't able to see what color it was or see much of what its body looked like. The nameplate that was on the front bumper said TROSUR7; the windows were very darkly tinted—so much so that she couldn't see through them—; and there was no hint of smoke coming from the vehicle.

Angel was wondering about the flames; they were all over the frame of the car and, curiously, they were even on the tires. How could the driver drive when the car was so engulfed in flames—surely, with their blowing to and fro like they were, it was difficult to concentrate on the task of driving—and how could the driver stay cool and keep the vehicle from overheating with them flames being on it? She was just starting to wonder who it was that was driving the car when, to her surprise, the car pulled up beside her.

Her hand, while being on the gear shift, hadn't moved any since the car was seen. She was much too mesmerized to move much less get on with the task of backing away from Trobrencus's front gate and then going home.

"Probably Trivit—Trob and Bahne's adult son. Trobrencus usually drives a hearsh-like car... he doesn't—"

The control that she had found herself as lacking in moving her body was regained after the window on the flaming car's passenger side lowered; just one look at who it was that was driving the car was enough to get her heart racing, and was enough to tell her to get her ass in gear in leaving the area.

The upholstery that was in the car was red; the seats had black and red leather on them; and it looked like there was a real monkey arm and hand hanging from the rear view mirror. The man behind the wheel didn't look a bit happy to see her—with the way he was staring at her, she could tell that he was more than a little angry. He looked to be plain raging; his eyes were non-blinking, and were like stone in his still face, and his lips looked about ready to spew out a torrent of words that'd make her inner ears either scream in shock or decide to pack up and then leave town.

She had thought that it was TrivitVile Afck Surfeit, the younger of the two twins born to Trobrencus and Bahne during the early part of Shlock's Plague, who was also the only one of them two twins to be born alive, that was driving the car. After the window was dropped, and after seeing who it was that was behind the wheel, she knew that it wasn't Trivit.

The one that was behind the wheel was none other than TrobrencusVile Bloym Surfeit.

"Move away from the gate! Oh shit, move away from the gate so he can get in then speed away!" she thought frantically.

She moved the gear shift from park to reverse then did as her frantic mind was telling her to do in backing away from the gate; there was a small circle before the gate, she went its entire length before stopping and then starting the process of turning her wheel. She had only just started the process of moving onto the road when something caught her eye—upon looking to the side, she saw that Trobrencus had imitated her by backing his car up. His car was still beside hers.

Angel's heart near skipped a beat; just looking at that mean, angry face of his was enough to put the fear of death in her!

TrobrencusVile Bloym Surfeit, who sometimes went by Trob by both his family and by the ones that knew him, had a small resemblance to a Surfeit. His bi-color head—the left side being light blue while its other side was a creamy color—was really the only physical thing that said that he was related to the Surfeit family; the rest of him had been genetically inherited from his mother, Birava Yamubabba.

His ears were like those of Tazir's, Lhaklar's, Hazaar's, and Lazeer's—instead of being located outside of his head, or being elongated, like the rest of the Surfeits' ears were, they were located inside his head. The irises of his eyes were red while the sclera and pupils were white; the red, trail-like markings, that were under his eyes, looked very much like blood, but she knew they weren't. The red, flaky patches of flesh, that were on his face, were drooping. His lower lip drooped, and had a shredded appearance to it; the nose that was above his lips was thin and pointy.

The dark purple hair, that was on his head, was all nice and trim on the front and sides while, on the top, it was scruffy; the long strand of hair, that was on the back of his head, was braided—from what she was able to see, it had a dark green bow on its end.

"Go! Move your ass!" her screaming mind told her after she noted the burning fury that was in Trobrencus's eyes.

While turning to look where she was going, she drew her foot from the brake; the car moved down the main road, then about twenty yards from the circle that was before Trobrencus's front gate, before being stopped. She was about to move the gear shift from reverse to drive when she saw that Trobrencus's car was still beside hers. His eyes met hers for only a second before she looked down the road; the idea of his staying beside her as a way to escort her from his property came to her, as did his staying beside her as a way to put the fear of God in her. She imagined him as being the mother bear and her as being the creature that said mother bear either wanted away from her cubs or was keeping a wary eye on—after imagining this, she removed her hand from the gear shift then turned to see where she was going. She, while keeping her vehicle at twenty-five miles an hour, went down the road. After going thirty yards, she stopped then turned to look forward again.

She got a surprise after turning to face the road again—Trobrencus wasn't only still beside her but it looked like he had moved his car so that it was closer to hers. Before making the move to back down the road, there had been around sixteen inches between her car and his; there looked to be around eight inches between them now.

Angel, after seeing that Trobrencus was still beside her, and after making an estimate on how close his car was to hers, decided to go down the road fifty more yards. Instead of turning to look where she was going, she looked in her rear view mirror; it seemed slow work, making her car go back instead of forward, but she viewed that this was the best way to go by getting away from Trobrencus's front gate—there was no way in hell that she was about to speed down the road, and possibly have Trobrencus speeding behind her!

After going fifty yards, she stopped; she had only just put her hand on the gear shift, to move it from reverse to, once again, drive, when she heard something that about caused her skin to crawl.

"Kkkkllllllllpppp..."

After hearing the sound, she turned to look at Trobrencus; not only was he still beside her but his side view mirror had clipped hers. He had, once again, moved his car closer to hers—there was nothing more than four inches between his car and hers now—and he was still giving her that stony, angry, chilly, and downright scary stare.

With his car being closer to hers noted, she left the gear shift where it was; she backed down the road again—surprisingly, Trobrencus went with her.

Inch for inch, foot for foot they backed down the road together; seventy yards... seventy-five... eighty-five... ninety... Her heart, after the final yardage was gained, started beating in her chest at a furious pace. Trobrencus, she had noticed all while backing down the road, wasn't watching what was going on in front of him. He was keeping himself focused on her instead of what may or may not be coming at him.

After the ninetieth yard was gained, she turned to look at the property that the man owned; the mini forest was around a hundred and fifty yards from her... while she was a distance from the front gate, and from Trobrencus's peacefully acting family, she had yet to leave the periphery of his property. After seeing this, she figured that he was only following her until she reached the outside edge of the fence that wound around the forest—after thinking this, she lifted her foot from the brake then "sped" down the road.

She lost track of the time and, in a way, her surroundings as she sped, going nearly fifty miles an hour, down the road. After seeing the fence that wound around the mini forest flash by her, she heaved a sigh of relief; she had only placed the full of her foot back on the brake pedal when a vibration was felt. After turning to look out the driver's side window, she saw that not only had Trobrencus followed her but that he had drawn still closer to her vehicle—he was so close that, this time, her side view mirror didn't clip his. It, along with Trobrencus's own, snapped free of the body of her car—this did not hit well with her!

"I brought your dog back you fool! He's injured, go home to tend him!" Angel's mind screamed.

After her side view mirror broke, she heard an ominous ringing sound that chilled her to the very bone—her cellular wasn't on her; after moving back to Moas, the service had gone out, so she hadn't had a reason to put it in her bag or bring it with her. She figured that Trobrencus's cellular was on him, and that it was that that was making the sound that she was hearing. She figured that someone—his wife, perhaps, or one of his grown children—was calling him about the dog, or about something that was going on with his finances or with one of his conquered realms.

Trobrencus acted like he didn't hear the ringing sound. His car idled beside hers, and he continued to stare at her. Due to how close their cars were to each other, Angel could feel the flames' heat—her throat was dry and itchy; her eyes seemed a bit too dry to her; she was sweating; and the flesh on her left arm was being burned. After feeling the flesh on her arm being burned, she moved her car back another twenty-five yards—Trobrencus didn't only stay with her but he also drew his car up against hers. She winced at the sound of his car scraping the paint from her own before drawing her hand up to pat the flames that suddenly caught on her hair.

"I'm away from your family!" her mind screamed at him. "Go back to them! Go back to your dog! Let me go home! I get your point—go away, stay away, and don't ever come back."

Due to his vehicle being so damn close to hers now she hesitated in moving back; after reaching up to pat the flames that decided to, once again, alight on her hair, she decided to make an attempt in moving her car away from his and then speed it down the road. After turning the wheel to the side, she moved her car as much as she could to the road's shoulder—Trobrencus, non-surprisingly, followed her, so her attempt in moving away from him was for nothing. After finding that attempt as not working, she decided to move down the road. While moving down the road, going at nearly thirty miles an hour, she was forced to remove her hands from the wheel twice—while patting the flames from her hair on the second removal, she saw that a semi-truck was coming towards her and Trobrencus.

Angel pointed at the truck after seeing it; she hoped that Trobrencus would turn to look at it, and then make the move to get out of its way—to her deep surprise, he did neither. The driver of the truck blared his horn at them loudly; he did this twice before the sound of tires squealing was heard. Rocks, dust, and pebbles flew all over the place; she heard the truck's driver yell back at them. He asked if they were crazy before going on down the road to wherever he was suppose to go. After experiencing this event, Angel decided that she had had enough; after removing the whole of her foot from the brake pedal, she gritted her teeth. The sound of her car scraping against Trobrencus's was horrible—she wanted it to stop being heard and, above all, she wanted this nightmare to be over with!

After finding herself as being halfway past his car, she thought that he was finally done with scaring her; she thought about going to a room after getting home, then sitting down to both calm down and think things over. She thought about taking a shower, then slapping some lotion on her burned arm. She thought about getting herself something to eat or, better yet, asking for Homsi or Eldass to bring her a bottle of wine. She was more than glad that Bile had been told to stay at home—having him along, experiencing what she was, and possibly being scared out of his wits end, need not happen! She would of been even more of a nervous wreck if he had been allowed to come along.

Angel almost made it to the bumper of Trobrencus's vehicle when, with a screaming pop, the windshield exploded in her face. She screamed while diving to the passenger side of her car; the shoulder strap of her bag was grabbed, then her face was driven into the cool suede of her bag, then she started counting the seconds that happened next.

"With Trob's car being slow close to mine, and with his car being engulfed in flames, the windshield exploding like that was bound to hap—" she was thinking when the door on the driver's side of her car was suddenly yanked to being open. She felt hands grabbing the back of her shirt, then she felt them hands yank her from the car, then she felt the hands twist her around to look at the one that possessed them.

"And where do you think you're going, Ragamuffin?" TrobrencusVile snarled in her face after removing her from her car. The voice that he used was his usual—it was low, and weasel-like; the flesh on her arms became pocked after the growl-tone, that was always present in his voice, was heard.

"Trob—" she gasped after seeing that it was he who had taken her from her car.

"Yeah, that's my name now you... get in there!"

Trobrencus dragged her along for a short distance before stopping and then reaching for the handle of the front passenger door of his vehicle, which had since been parked and then doused of its flames. The man didn't waste a second in opening the door, or in throwing her into the vehicle, or in slamming the door after she was in; once she was in the car, she popped her head up then watched as the man walked around to the driver's side door—after seeing this, she chanced a glance through the vehicle's back window.

Trobrencus, she now knew, was the cause to what just happened with the windshield of her car. He had waited until she was at his rear bumper before slamming on the brake and then doing a swerve—her fender was smashed, her windshield was shattered, the hood was buckled up in more than two places, and both of her headlights were broken. She was shocked to learn that that was the only damage done to her car—the rest of the body of her car was unscathed.

The man responsible for causing her car to be damaged was wearing a dark green, Satin-trimmed, velvet tuxedo; the shoes, that were on his feet, and the vest, that was over a nice and crisp, white shirt that had long sleeves and a button down front on it, matched the tuxedo well. The gold chain, that ran from one of the vest's pockets to the other, was gold; she was fast in thinking that he had a pocket watch, or some other item that could fit in the small pockets that were known to be on vests, on one of its ends. The striped, dark green cravat tie, that was around his neck, had a gold button in its center.

When Trobrencus grabbed the inside of the driver's side door, to close it after getting into his car, Angel saw that his fingernails were medium-long and were a dark cream color; like with most of the male members of her family, his nails had been filed to a finely sharp point.

She still had her bag with her; somehow, after grabbing and then ripping her from her car, it had come with her. After the man got into his car, then closed the door, then turned the key, the flames returned. She watched the flames as they danced along the hood of the car for a few seconds before turning to take in what the man was reaching for—the flip-top cellular phone, that was a bright silver color, and that was on the dash of the car, was lifted, then opened, then placed by the side of his head.

"Yeah, Bahne, I'm here." he said into his cellular after answering it. She decided to make an attempt in taking advantage of his attention being absorbed in something else; after moving closer to the passenger door, she grabbed the handle. The man, who must of anticipated this move, reacted quickly by reaching over and then slapping her with the hand that had the cellular in it.

"Trob, you need to come home—Cocbok came back! He ran up to us about five minutes ago." Bahne's voice, which was very whisper-like, came though the cellular clearly; it was quite clear that Trobrencus, before reaching over to stop her from escaping him, had put his phone on speaker. "His leg is hurt—think it's broke."

"I'm on my way now." TrobrencusVile said. "I've got company with me so I'll be a bit busy."

"We did see a car by the main gate," Bahne said. "Since you're the only one who can open the gate we couldn't let whoever it was in. Think he drove off."

"She did but I caught up with her. She's in the car with me now, we'll reach the garage in five minutes." TrobrencusVile said before shutting his phone off. After his phone was off, and then closed, he tossed it towards her; after it bounced off her leg, he said, "Put that in your bag—you'll be with me and my family for a while so you best get comfortable, and you best behave your rear end."

The ride to the gate, and then threw it, wasn't as hot as she thought it'd be; the flames that were dancing along the car's frame, and tires, had generated a lot of heat on both her and her car but, on the inside of Trob's car, it was very cool and comfortable. Trobrencus, she saw, had a very fine stereo in his car—judging by the speakers, she guessed that he liked hearing his tunes loud. There were cup holders built into the sides of all of the vehicle's doors; the food compartment, that was also built into the doors, looked big enough to hold more than a plain snack. The dash-board was a nice and shiny black color; the air conditioning vents, and the siding that went around the AC and heating controls, and the radio, was chrome. The vehicle's top, she saw, had hinges on it—so the vehicle was as she had thought it was. A convertible.

As she was taking all of this in, Trobrencus drove down the road and then up to the front gate; a small device, that had a blue botton on it, was removed from his pocket and then used right after they reached the gate.

The gate had no more been opened, and they had no more started driving through it, when her eyes landed on the items that were on the car's dash-board.

Trobrencus, she remembered, was one who used a cane whenever he walked; it didn't matter if he was inside or not, he always had a cane on his person and he always used it. The man had no physical ailments with his legs, or with any other part of his body, so the cane wasn't used as a way to help him in getting from place to place—he used it as both a fashion statement and as something to give his image a more important look.

Lying across the dash of the car was a brown stick that had a sterling silver cobra handle on it; the cobra-handle of the cane was turned down. The mouth was open, so it looked like it was either about to bite or snap at the one who dared to grab it. The eyes on the handle were ruby while the fangs were gold. Trobrencus had around fifty canes in his possession, and all of them had an animal of some sort as their handles. While the cane was something that gained her attention her attention wasn't on it completely—the small, silver gun, that was beside the cane's handle, was what got a good chunk of her attention. The gun was about six inches long, and it looked powerful enough to inflict enough damage to send one to the hospital.

Seeing the gun brought back the memory of how her first ride in one of Tazir's vehicles had gone; Tazir had just caught her, and had done as Trobrencus had in throwing her into his vehicle. Unlike Trob, who had just thrown her into his car and then gone around to get into the driver's seat, Tazir had thrown her into his car and then gotten in behind her—he had held her while his neighbor and good friend, Gloar, drove them to about halfway home. After reaching Gloar's place, Tazir had given his friend the signal to stop; after Gloar was on his way home, Tazir had dragged her up and then over the front seats and then plopped her in the passenger seat—after taking the driver's seat, then starting the process of driving his car, he had taken and then held a small gun at her. She, who had tried to vacate the car almost immediately after being placed in the passenger seat, had been forced to stay in the car—that gun had been pointed at her the entire time that her husband was taking her back to his place. Seeing Trobrencus's gun made her think that he was paranoid—his residence was no where near any type of civilization, so he had no real use for something like that.

Why the gun was on his person was beyond her; after seeing the gun, she was steadfast in staying where she was and in doing exactly as he told her to do.

It took Trobrencus about five minutes before his car reached the yellow rock containing circle that Tazir had told her about earlier; yellow and black flowers bobbed all around the circle's outside edges while the grass that was beyond the flowers was just as calm and still as ever. Angel saw that the clearing, that was between all the trees, was empty; she figured that everyone who had been in the clearing had gone inside after the dog was seen and then collected.

TrobrencusVile drove the car around the circle once before stopping; once the car was stopped, he turned to look at her.

"Out." he demanded.

Yessir! Whatever you say!

After grabbing the handle on the door, then pulling it up, she found herself as being spilled out on the circle's collection of rocks; after standing, then brushing the rocks, and invisible dirt and dust, from herself, she saw that Trobrencus was slowly getting out of his car. Once he was out of his car, he went towards his castle. For a fleeting second, she found herself wondering where the garage was—there were no buildings around that looked up to the part of storing vehicles, and the car hadn't been driven into anything that looked like a garage... After a second to two seconds passed, she looked down after feeling the ground under her vibrating—while supressing a gasp, she jumped out of the circle that was slowly dropping. It took her all but a second to realize that the garage wasn't above-ground—Trobrencus had either gotten an underground garage built onto his property or it had been there before he had gained the property in his name!

After jumping out of the circle, then taking two to three steps back, she looked up—Trobrencus, she saw, was coming straight for her; the man had obviously seen her as not being with him and he had obviously made the decision to make the trek out to reclaim her. She ducked to avoid the man's hand then she moved past him—the man, who had a good six foot, four inch height to him, and who, while not being as heavily muscled as his nephew, was very well-muscled, made not a sound after she went towards the front door of his residence.

The door that she reached was big, and was made out of a very strong, brown wood; the knob that was on it was Septarian and nodule-like in appearance. Trobrencus, who had a very quick, grease-lightning like movement to him, reached the door right after she did; after rummaging in his pocket for a bit, he withdrew a silver key, that had a skull on it. After pushing the key into the door's keyhole, then twisting it, then opening the door, he turned to, once again, look at her.

"In!" he barked.

"Yessir!" Angel responded. She was obedient in going in; TrobrencusVile not only followed her into the residence but he also closed and then locked the door behind him.

The foyer, she saw, was octagonally shaped; the vases, that were hanging from the domed ceiling, had red and white striped roses in them while the walls were decorated with all sorts of photographs of Trobrencus and his family. After taking in the light brown ceiling, and then the dark purple walls, she found herself as being pushed forward. While walking down the black and gray marble flooring, she took in the many arches that opened up on the hallway that she and Trobrencus were walking down—Tazir had said that the place was big... with as many arches as the building had in it, she guessed that it was that and more. The arches, she noticed, either had a hallway or a staircase in them.

There were no photographs on the hallway walls; instead, the walls had plenty of swords, knives, and coats of arms on them. She was just walking by a water spout that had a lion's head on it when she got a surprise—as if seeing the flaming car wasn't surprise enough, she gasped, and then jumped back, after the water spout spat fire. Trobrencus made a sound after she jumped back; he made no effort to calm or reassure her of what she was seeing. Instead, he just pushed her forward.

She was forced to walk by many flame-shooting, animal-headed water spouts; Trobrencus acted like it was normal for the spouts to do as they were—after going by four of the spouts, she calmed down then walked on quietly and half-so confidently.

While she didn't stop to take in the decor that was in the hallway she did stop to take in the fountain that was beside the hallway's main staircase. The fountain had a resemblance to a three-headed dragon, and it had a small pool of water around it; water "spewed" from the three maws of the fountain before trickling down the three necks to the pool. She had just given her head a nod after taking in this piece of, what she viewed, art when Trobrencus grabbed her by her shoulders.

The man ripped her from the fountain, and its pool, then placed a black canvas bag, that had a heavy aroma of smoke on it, over her head. Before taking his hands from her, he took her bag.

"Main office, third level, on the double!" she heard him say; she guessed that he was talking to one of his servants.

"Yessir, Master Trobrencus." a feminine-sounding voice responded.

"Lah-ha-ck her in afterwards!" the word 'lock' was drawn out in a mocking sort of fashion that made her shiver.

"Yessir, Master Trobrencus." the servant said before wrapping her hand around Angel's wrist then starting the process of leading her to where she needed to take her. Judging by the servant's voice and touch, Angel thought that she was young, a little concerned, and sympathetic towards her.

"Name's J'taveta, you a new employee?" the servant asked her after they had gone a ways from Trobrencus.

"No. A relative, actually." Angel replied.

"A relative?"

"Distant—his nephew's my great-great grandfather." Angel replied.

"With his throwing that black bag over your head, I thought you was a new servant." J'taveta said. "He usually does that to instill fear in his new employees—both male and female."

"He seems rather... mean to the ones that he hires." Angel said. After feeling the rise of a step, she stopped; with her foot, she felt how tall the step was before ascending it. Due to her head being covered, she used her sense of feeling to go up the staircase that she thought she was ascending.

"He's cruel, to say the least." J'taveta sighed. "Cruel and nasty.

"Just so I know, how many more steps do I need to go up?" Angel asked.

"Forty, you've gone up only ten." J'taveta replied. "Take it slow—when you're on the second floor, I'll remove the bag from your head."

"Thank you."

It was no surprise to her that Trobrencus threw a smoke-smelling bag around the heads of his new employees; he seemed to get a high from scaring people—both staff and not staff. She knew that he wasn't the best of employer's in the Universe—his cane, as far as she knew, was the main weapon that he used on the people that were both in his staff and that worked for someone else; while she had heard stories of his using his hands on the hired help, the stories on his using his cane as a way to show his authority over others far suppressed them. Other than Tazir's staff, she had heard and seen the man use his cane on both her grandfather's and great-great grandfather's staff—surprisingly, the two men let him do as he merry well wanted to with the ones that worked for them.

Angel stopped talking; she started counting after hearing how many steps she had to ascend. J'taveta stayed at her side; her hand remained on her wrist as a guiding source—the woman, though very willing to help her in getting up the stairs, found herself as not needing to guide her anywhere. She was doing well in taking the stairs.

It took about five minutes before Angel finished the chore of ascending the staircase; after reaching the second level, then being pulled to a stop, she waited until the maid had the bag removed from her head. J'taveta, after the bag was removed from her, stepped back.

"Huh, I was expecting for you to have a more Surfeit look to you since you claim to have such a man as Shaam as your direct descendant." J'taveta said after the bag was removed from around Angel's head. "You sure you're not a new employee that's trying to pull the old throw-the-new-employer-off act? Master Surfeit is right prone to being pushy, and especially so with his female staff who are either pretty or beautiful. The night hours is when he tends to add in a special dose of being extra pushy towards us."

"My line goes from Shaam to Duru to Kuruk and then to Kuruk's firstborn son, Vile Vile." Angel replied. "I have four kids—one by my father; the other three are by his uncle, Tazir."

"That sounds consistent with Angel Irene." J'taveta said before emitting a sort of gasp. "You're not—"

"Uh-huh. I'm her."

"Well then, you _are_ related to my employer then." J'taveta sighed in relief. "Come—the stairs that run up to the third level are this way."

J'taveta was a very pretty woman; along with having a height of four feet, two inches, she had long, black hair and silver eyes that looked almost like coins. She had a very exotic look to her—her head, hands, and feet were starfish-like in shape and her neck had a light yellow frill around it. She was wearing a gray dress and shoes; the apron that was around her waist was white. As she had figured earlier, the maid was a young creature—if she had to make any guesses, she was in her young adult years.

As J'taveta led her to the stairs that connected the second level to the third, then went up them, then started leading her down the third level's hallway, she answered the questions that she asked of her employer. She learned that Trobrencus didn't just use his cane on his staff—he yelled, kicked, punched and slapped, and he sometimes also threw people who he thought were "slouching" on the job. After speaking of how Trobrencus was with the people that worked for him, J'taveta spoke of the residence that she, and her co-workers, worked in.

"Not counting the servant's quarters, there's a total of seven hundred and twenty rooms here. We're required to check and clean all of them daily." she said. "Sometimes, he gives us the order to clean a specific room more than once—he does this just see us work our rears off for no reason. He's gotten me to wash, and then wax, the floors in the two bigger kitchen's more than five times—he could care less about the kitchen that me and my co-workers use. The kitchen that's across from the bigger one is what his kids use when they're either learning how to cook or are doing experimental cooking—his wife, when she decides to make the family meal, uses that kitchen."

"He made you wash and then wax the kitchen floors five times?" Angel asked incredulously. She shook her head; to her, that was wrong on so many fronts.

"The staff's quarters are all located under the house—there's a hundred and eighty-eight of them; a little under half have bathrooms in them. He can care less about the quarters, but he makes sure that we look after the rooms that're in his castle. We typically clean each room that we're given to do quickly—he's prone to paying us "visits" during the cleaning process, and he's very famous for seeing "ghost dust"." J'taveta went on. "Unless I, or one of my female co-workers, was ordered to clean his and Mrs. Surfeit's bedroom chamber, or Trivit's bedroom chamber, we let our male co-workers do them. Mr. Surfeit is fond of playing grab with the woman of his staff that are pretty or beautiful—his wife's okay with it as long as there's a sign put over the door knob of the room that he and the woman that he's grabbed are in. My employer's had me under him a total of six times."

"That's horrible!" Angel gasped. "You shouldn't let him do—"

"Fight more and the more he comes onto you. I've worked for him for less than thirty years." J'taveta said. "Trivit's a rather pleasant lover, but he mostly lets his father have at us."

"Afraid of his father?" Angel speculated.

"No—he's got a girlfriend. Been dating her for a thousand years. On and off, but sometimes he does need a little releasing. I'm told that he and Alaah get along well—they just have problems with Mr. Surfeit, is all." J'taveta replied. "Mr. Surfeit doesn't like Trivit's girlfriend—he wants them to separate."

"Trivit's a grown man, he should—"

"He loves his father too much to stand up to him, or to tell him to leave him and Alaah be." J'taveta said.

Angel had always seen Trivit as somewhat of a wimp, but hearing that he had a girlfriend was something very new to her—at the time of her leaving Moas with the boys, he had been very single. Hearing that both Trobrencus and his son had their way with the female help was, in a way, not surprising—it seemed something that Trobrencus would allow his son to become involved in and it also seemed something that Trivit would do, seeing as he was "so close" to his father, and wanted to "be like him".

"Here it is, Miss. Irene." J'taveta said. They were standing before a pair of rustic, brown stained doors that had steel bars crossing them. After stopping before the doors, J'taveta slid them back. "I'm suppose to lock these after you've entered—all I can do is offer my apologies for having to do so, and wish you luck."

"Thank you, same to you on the luck thing." Angel said before entering the room that the doors went to. The sound of the doors being slid back was loud while the sound of the lock being twisted was even louder.

A bright desk, that had a burnished copper finish to it, was sitting rather tastefully before two stained glass windows; two, brown leather office chairs were sitting before it while, to the left of them, was a matching fainting couch. The white stone fireplace, that was to the left of the room, and around five or so steps away from the office doors, had two lion statues guarding it—this fireplace was a beauty in her eyes, and it stretched from floor to ceiling to boot! Sitting before the fireplace was a bear rug—the head that was attached to one of the rug's ends was very lifelike, so she was under the impression that the rug was actually a sort of trophy from one of Trobrencus's hunts.

The room had a hardwood floor in it that had a very brass-like shine to it—it was almost like it was stained that color, but, oddly enough, she got the feeling that something else was at work in making it have that shine. A red and black rug, that had gold detailing on it, was under the desk and chairs. The dark red cabinet, that was to the right of the fireplace, had all sorts of books on it—like with the fireplace, it stretched from floor to ceiling; the bookcase that matched the cabinet had more books on it, and some vases, plaques, and trophies too.

The spear-like chandelier, that hung from the ceiling's center, had white bulbs in it; she was fast in thinking that the chandelier didn't match the room that it was in.

After taking in the room, she went to one of the brown leather chairs; after sitting down, she started to wonder why Trobrencus had taken her bag from her.

"Got nothing more than coins in a coin purse, a fifty dollars in a wallet, some Moas credit cards and an invitation in a case, a canister of pepper spray, and a small pocketknife in it," she thought. "He told me to put his cellular in the bag, which I did without question—instead of grabbing and then disappearing with my bag, he could of just asked for me to retrieve and then give it to him."

He really had no point in snooping around in her purse; poking and prodding, or dragging every little thing that was in it out. All he'd have to do was reach his hand into the bag, then grab his phone, then either remove his hand and then discard the bag or withdraw his hand and then return the bag to her. If he did the search thing with her bag, he might get mad over seeing and then finding the pepper spray and pocketknife that was in it—but she'd be able to explain the reason to why she had them, so he wouldn't be mad at her possession of them two items for long; the rest of what was in the bag he'd probably be bored with.

She had no, true explanation as to why he had followed her, and then struck her car with his—if he had been trying to escort her from his property, and from his family, he wouldn't of taken her from her car or driven her to his place; he would of just followed her to a safe distance before nodding his head and then driving home.

After taking a seat in the chair, then thinking things over, she looked at the seemingly ancient, black marble mantle clock, that was on the desk's surface; she was quite shocked over learning that she was ten minutes arrived to the office. With the time that she had spent in the office noted, she leaned back; she had no more done so before the fireplace behind her became a-light—Trobrencus, the man who had given her such a scare earlier, walked through the flames right after they appeared in it.

"I do apologize for the wait but I do have a family to check up on and speak with," TrobrencusVile said after entering the room. He, after speaking, went directly to his desk; the dark brown leather chair, that was behind the desk, was pulled out and then sat in after he finished rounding his desk.

"They doing well?" Angel asked after he sat down.

"Indeed, they are." TrobrencusVile replied. After speaking, he removed a white envelope from his tuxedo then held it up; the bag that he had taken earlier was also removed from within his tuxedo. Instead of holding it up, he just placed it on his desk. "I do believe that this is from you."

"Wrote and sent that out three days ago," Angel said. The envelope looked as if it hadn't been opened. "Sent it out express."

"I've had it for two of them three days," TrobrencusVile said. The sword-shaped letter holder, that was to the left of his desk's surface, was picked up and then used. "Let's see what type of excuses you've put on the paper that's in this envelope."

Finding her sitting before the front gate of his property had been like his finding one of Bahne's very delectable Flourless chocolate cakes sitting on his desk—it was delicious; it was like letting air fill one's lungs; and he had been able to taste its flavor before grabbing and then diving in. Like he had said, he had gotten her letter two days ago—as a way to draw her from the safety of Tazir's place, he had neither opened it or read its contents. He had scared her white during their ordeal both before his gate and then down the road that ran before his residence; if what was in the envelope was what he thought it was, he had plans to keep that fear going.

Before making the trip to his office, he had stopped long enough to rummage through her bag—his cellular; a coin purse, that a few rolled up coins were in; a wallet that some paper money was in; a sort of case that contained some Moas-issued credit cards; and an invite for he and his to come over to Tazir's place had been what he had found in it. He had come close to laughing after both extracting his phone and then seeing what else the bag had in it—with the Ragamuffin, as he called her, waiting in his office, and with his needing to square matters off with her, he had sustained that desire. The case that had the credit cards in it was a hoot—why, Bahne, and his adult daughters, had two to three times the credit cards that she did... he didn't know if that was a sign of her being shy in spending her husband's money or if she was shallow in wanting paper-money instead of money that was used via a plastic card.

After seeing the invite, he had come under the belief that she had only come to see him as a way to do a personal invite to her husband's place—with this being her first-ever visit to his place, he was going to make sure that she did more than remember it. After rummaging through the bag, then extracting what he needed from it, then looking at its contents, he had crossed the hallway to use the phone—a quick call to Tazir had been made; after disclosing that she was at his place, and that she was "safe", he had hung up. The man hadn't had a chance to beg him to be "gentle" with her due to his action of placing the phone on its handle after that was all said.

"If it comes down to it, I'll do whatever I wish with her." he had thought after putting the phone on its station.

As he saw it, she deserved to be given a little scare, and maybe slapped and/or thrown around for what she had allowed to happen between her sons and he, his wife, and their son. All of their injuries, plus their emotional and mental traumas, were being paid back in threes. Oh yes, as his father had so often said, when it comes around it also goes around—boy howdy was he ever going to be sling-shoting that going around bit her way.

He remember all too well their first meeting—she had been scared rotten of him; after getting use to him, that feeling had been all but forgotten. He aimed to have some of that fear return to her—fear of one's family wasn't in his game, no, but he did view that she deserved to return to being scared of him... and he also thought that she deserved to be confronted on what she did to him and his too.

He had a feeling that old Cocbok's return was partly on her—her being at his front gate, and his dog's return home, was too coincidental to miss. He did thank her for the dog's return; the only reason to why he had been out in the first place was to find where that dog was and then bring him home. Cocbok's leg was, without a shadow of a doubt, broken; after seeing the dog, then checking him over, he had asked Bahne to put in a call for the local, on-call vet—after asking her to do that, he had told her that Angel was in his office and was waiting for him.

Cocbok and he went back a long ways; as a child, he had fed, watered, played, and sometimes slept with the dog. As a young teenager, his father had let him take on the responsibility of his vet care. His father, after passing away, had willed the dog to him—Raal, his younger half-brother, and Shaam's father, had been a little scared of the dog, and hadn't done much either for or with him; Rosol, his older brother, who also happened to be the only brother of his that was from the same woman as he, had acted like the dog wasn't there. Instead of playing with the dog, or giving him any sort of attention, he had treated him like he was a statue that was doing nothing more than collecting dust.

"Throw her out, Trob." Bahne had said after learning that the Ragamuffin was in the castle.

Nah; he had better plans for the woman than that. If a bunch of excuses had been put in her letter, he had plans to make her become something like one of the maids in his service—imagine the beautiful woman, in a maid's outfit, cleaning his home and having to watch her back while doing so. Imagine the woman having to keep him in her sights, or having to worry about his coming onto her.

In his mind, the woman had no blood of his running through her veins; she had his father's—IackVile Uovo Surfeit's—in her veins but she had none of TrobrencusVile Bloym Surfeit in her. He was purely her great-great-great-great uncle because of his father's blood being in her—since his blood ran none in her, he could have at her if he wanted to. She may of been given to Tazir as a wife but she hadn't made official the marriage by having a priest bless it—the scroll was the only thing that said that she was the man's wife; while the scroll was good enough in saying that she belonged to the man, she really should of had the marriage officiated by getting a priest to both bless it and then make out a license for it. If the marriage had been authenticated, he wouldn't be considering coming onto her—he'd just read the excuses, if there were any, that were in the letter before saying well now, that's nice, now get the fuck out and don't waste your time in visiting or coming by again.

After opening the envelope, then removing the letter that was in it, he leaned back then started reading; Angel was both quiet and sitting with her legs crossed—he appreciated this more than anything because, unless it was very important, he didn't like one bothering him when he was reading what had been sent in the mail.

 _Dear Trobrencus,_

 _I apologize for not writing to you sooner; things at home have been crazy, so I've been prevented from doing an immediate response to what you sent your nephew. You requested an apology from me about what happened on the 25th of October—before I do that, let me explain what happened (it's up to you to read the following and to accept what I've written and the apology that I've also given to you)._

 _On the day that you and yours got into the shield, then came to claim me from my workplace, something happened to prevent telephone conversation from occurring—my sons and I were talking when both the old apartment's phone line, and my cellular signal, went out; my sons, after waiting a while to see if I'd call them back, became worried about me then made the decision to drive out to my workplace to check on me. I can't explain why the phone lines and cellular reception went down; while it was storming, and rather badly too, I don't think it was that that caused both to go down._

 _After arriving at my workplace, Hazaar started complaining about his not being able to see anything—Lhaklar, in response, used one of his powers to clear the visibility, which caused him and them to see that I was surrounded by folk that they didn't remember and that one of the people that were surrounding me was handling me. It was bad judgement on their behalves and I do apologize for that—but, like any other parent who has kids that are right protective of them, I understand why they reacted in the way that they did and I do stand by them for their doing what they did._

 _Lhaklar claims that he told Bahne to back off before swinging his finger knives at her—in his words, she was acting like she was about to become involved in what was going on; she refused to do as he had told her in standing back. Bahne attacked my son, then jumped onto his back; he was acting in defense of himself. Lazeer admits to shooting the icicle at your backside—with his not ever seeing you, or knowing who you were, he, again, acted on impulse after seeing that you were one of the people that were surrounding me and that you had your hand on me. I wasn't able to call everyone back, or off, because I was dealing with my own problems—shock over you and your family being in the shield; concern over you and your family's attempt in removing me from my children; and, of course, the group of Goblins that came out of nowhere. Due to the Goblins surrounding me, then causing me to fight them, I had to concentrate my energies on them and them alone—with the exception of the men and women who work for Tazzy, the ones that are in his army don't and won't listen to or obey me, so doing either wouldn't of worked to get them to back off. After you and Bahne were forced from the shield, my sons, sans Lazeer, who was dealing with your son, went to help me with the Goblins; after Tazir arrived in the area, it took him several yells for the men in his service to drop what they were doing and then exit the shield. Bile, and his brothers, spent some time in the hospital after what happened between them and you and yours and the Goblins._

 _It's up to you if you wish to accept my apology, and if you wish to see my standing by my sons as a way of nullifying my apology, but, like I said above, what parent wouldn't stand by their offspring in a situation like what happened between me and mine and you and yours? Bile and Lhaklar have only seen you and your family a handful of times while Hazaar and Lazeer have never seen you—with all that went down that day, how were the latter ones to know that you and your family weren't a danger to theirs? No, I don't wish to lose you or yours as family to me and no, I don't want bad blood or spit spilled between us, or have any close relationships that you've had or gotten since my disappearance to be severed either._

 _Much regards and apologies to you and yours, Angel I._

 _P.S.: Bile apologizes for what he did in photographing, and then capturing on film, your wife and daughters when they were in the river that flows by Expedition Island; he was grounded for taking what he did, so he didn't get off easy on doing that._

What parent wouldn't stand by their offspring in a situation like what happened between me and mine and you and yours; good question, and one that he could answer quickly—if he had been in their situation, he would of been fast in letting what happened happen.

After reading the letter, then lowering it, he looked at the girl that was sitting before his desk; though the reason wasn't purely focused on his looking at her, there was no mistaking the hardness that was going on before his legs—his penis had become rock-hard after he had seen her as being parked before his front gate... even though nearly thirty minutes had passed since the event of his and her little dance occurred, it was still hard now.

What she had put in the letter wasn't what he had wanted to read; he viewed it as both a confession on what had happened—her admitting that she had let it happen—and an excuse but... that one line where she had said that she wasn't going to force him into accepting her apology or explanation on what happened had him. Bahne wasn't able to force him into accepting any old apology, and neither could any of his children—after a classmate pushed Trivit against one of the buildings that were on the grounds of Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic, he hadn't listened to Bahne's attempts in trying to soothe him; after seeing this event in the little mirror that his son had been given on the day before his going off to be a student at the school, he had made the trip to the school and then tracked down the dean for a talk. Trivit should never of been pushed into that building; there had been plenty of space for him and his classmates to walk, so that event had been uncalled for.

In the letter, she claimed that the phone lines, and her cellular signal, went out—he was the cause for this; after being given the go on his being involved in finding and then extracting her from her workplace, he had gone to the part of his ship where his Disruptor Ray was. After punching in the planet's coordinates, then finding the satellites that were compatible with the planet's radio, television, and phone signals, he had pressed the initiate button and then gone to get ready for the task that he had self-appointed himself to do. He figured that her excuse of the boys going in to check on her after her signal went down was excuse enough—he'd of thrown a fuss if his signal, or line, went down while he was talking to one, or more, of his kids; that went double for his making the trip to see if the one, or ones, that he had been cut-off from speaking with were okay too.

Come to think of it, his kids would of reacted in the same fashion that her kids had if they had seen either he or Bahne being surrounded by people that they didn't know—he knew he'd freak if he had seen Bahne's arm being grabbed by an unknown person and he also knew that his kids would do so too. Despite being a rather strong bunch, Bile, Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer were still in that stage where they still depended on their mother; while they might be more on the adventuring side in wanting to check out their surrounding environment, they always returned to their mother—he had helped in raising ten children, and had put in some of the care involved in the raising of his two grandchildren, to know this well.

Why hadn't she written sooner, he wondered, and what all was going on at her place to prevent her from writing to people that she was related to? The last he had spoken with his nephew was a week and two days ago—where was he and what was going on with him. He hadn't heard a thing from Duru and his family for a while, and that went double for his hearing none of Kuruk and his family—while not being as close to them as he was to Shaam, he did wonder what was going on with them. On any given day, he found himself as getting two to three bags of mail—in the last thirteen days, he had seen no envelope with their address being on it being found in them bags, and he had heard nor seen a thing of them on the tele too.

After placing the letter down on his desk, he stood up; he rounded his desk then went right over to the one that looked to be patiently waiting for some sort of reaction or response from him.

"Stand up," he said after reaching her.

She was very obedient in doing as he had asked of her to do, which he did appreciate; he remembered well this girl's pedigree. She was the third child born to the man who had dared to not adhere to the contract, drawn up by LynkVile Brawsck Surfeit himself, in leaving his birth galaxy be—she was the second daughter of Vile Vile, and, though born through her "twin", she had been bore by a woman by the name of Helen of Earth. She happened to be his favorite of Vile Vile's children—Rita, the oldest child, and daughter, of the man spoke in a screeching voice that was annoying, and she whined too much and seemed to be all about her looks; Rito, the oldest of the man's sons, though strong in body, and though looking rather powerful, was quite dumb, which he did look down on.

Angel was a tall woman, and a beautiful one at that, but, as far as he could tell, she wasn't all about her looks. She had a normal voice to her, she was smart, and powerful, and, from what he had been told, fast—all good qualities for one in the Surfeit family to have, he thought.

The black, lace-like blouse, that had three-quarter sleeves on it, was nice—seeing as the fabric on the piece was so delicate, he was surprised that he hadn't ripped it from her body during the process of taking her from her car. The pants were green, and were slightly loose in the leg areas, while the shoes were a dull black color. With the exception of the ring that Tazir had given her as a wedding ring, she wore no jewelry—with such a woman as this standing before him, he was surprised at this. Being as old as he was, he knew just from looking at her that she was wearing a sort of powder on her left cheek—after noting the presence of this powder, he reached into the inside pocket of his tuxedo for the black silk kerchief that was stored inside.

One step, one wipe, then the veins, that were on his penis, tightened—poor creature; the entirety of her left cheek was a bruised, purple-red color. After seeing this bruise, he reached forward to touch it—just to see if it was real, and not something put on her to gain a sort of sympathy from him.

When Angel grimaced, then stepped back, he got his answer on the bruise being real instead of fake.

"He gets you back then strikes at you—that is not good." TrobrencusVile said after giving his head a sad shake. "Why do you let Tazir do that to you? What was—"

"Wasn't Tazzy... he'd not hit me for the world." Angel was fast in interrupting him.

"Who, then, had the nerve to strike you?"

"I'd rather keep my tongue twisted." Angel replied.

"I've seen the marks on your back—the ugly scars that you carry, and that you refuse to have treated away." TrobrencusVile said while walking by Angel. He went to the fireplace, then he started tampering with the wall that was to its right side. "You won't tell me who put them on you and you've refused to tell me who it was that took two of your offspring from you. It's not wise to keep secrets such as yours." after the wall revolved to expose a beverage cabinet, complete with wine and champagne bottles and glasses, he grabbed a bottle of champagne, then two glasses, then turned to go back to where she was. "You keep too many bad secrets."

"Not really secrets—I don't want your opinions, or relationships, with the ones in the family to change so I've just not told you much about me." Angel replied.

"And I do appreciate that." TrobrencusVile said. He sat on the fainting couch, then gestured for her to do the same. After she was seated, he asked, "Has Tazir ever hurt you?"

"Uh-uh," Angel shook her head. "He's actually been very nice and polite with me."

"Who put them marks on your back?" TrobrencusVile asked while pouring the champagne in the two glasses. After pouring the first glass of champagne, he held it out to Angel, who took it from him slowly. "Whatever you tell me won't get out—I'm not one of them people who have an overly flappy mouth in exposing what all they're told."

"Too kind,"

She sighed before going on in telling him what he wanted to know. Before meeting Tazir, and then becoming his wife, she had conceived a number of times; all of the pregnancies that she had gained had ended in either miscarriage or stillbirth, and the cause to this was purely on the fact that she was unable to carry to-term a baby sired by a human. Her father, after finding that she was a child of his, had gone to Earth with the intent of finding her, then taking her away, then trying to mold her into what he wanted her to be—after seeing that this wasn't to happen, he had started abusing her with both his hands, his belts, and his whips.

Trobrencus listened as she spoke; he moved not an inch from where he sat until after she started in on telling him about how her father, and grandfather, tortured her with bull whips, cat-o-nine tails, special-made candles, and hot pokers. When she spoke of how her grandfather had cut her hair, and then gotten his wife to braid what he had cut and then distribute what she braided to the ones in their family, he shook his head. The man did more than blink his eyes after she started telling the tale on how her father had kidnapped her friends as a way to get her out and in the open, and of how she had injured Dara Dara, and then Triskull, after they became involved in trying to claim her for their brother.

She spoke of how her father and grandfather had made her drop one of the babies that she didn't know she was carrying and she also spoke of how Tazir had assisted in the removal of another of her unborn babies. When she got to the part about Duru using a spiked belt on her before putting an ice block on her naked back, Trobrencus was breathing a little on the heavy side.

"Tazir helped them in getting rid of one of your unborn babies?" TrobrencusVile asked after she finished talking to him. In his mind, offspring were sacred. They were a sacred treasure that one should value the hell out of; to hear that Tazir had helped in removing one of Angel's unborn babies was as shocking as it was infuriating.

"Yeah, but, regardless of his helping them in doing so, I would of lost it—you see, before I had my four sons, I wasn't able to have children. I'm unable to have children by a human—the two babies that were taken from me had been sired by a human." Angel replied.

"Oh," he felt a sort of relief flow over him after hearing that what had been taken from her had been sired by a being that she wasn't able to birth children by. After hearing this, then calming down a bit, he asked, "Who hit you?"

"Your nephew." Angel answered.

"Shaam?" TrobrencusVile gave his eyes a single blink.

"After receiving your letter, I wanted to write to you—due to what's going on at home, I wasn't able to do so until three days ago."

"What's going on at your place?"

"Baruk and Sudir—my grandfather's sons—, and Gaajah and Selik—my great-grandfather's sons—, have been creating a lot of trouble for my sons. They're being rather relentless in bullying them. I'm also experiencing my share of the bullying from the adults—everyone except for Tazir and Qeeta, and the Ubalki's, have been getting on me for how I'm raising my sons and—"

"Sounds like you're being put under a lot of stress." TrobrencusVile said before downing his glass of champagne.

"The main area that they've been getting on me about is the fact that I'm still producing milk and am still giving it to my sons." Angel said.

Hearing that just about made his brain and heart explode—the healthiness of the girl's breasts hit him so hard that he became dizzy. Bahne was producing milk, and was still letting their two, younger children, Impub and Varaxcan, have it—he had and would never speak a word against her doing so because he both knew better and viewed that he had no right in encroaching on her mothering skills or on her giving their children what they needed to have to continue being healthy. A woman picked the right time to wean her kids; a man had no right to step in or say when she was to stop in doing this or that with the offspring that she had carried and then given birth to. To hear that everyone except for Tazir and Qeeta, and the Ubalki's, whoever the hell they were, were doing this to the girl that was seated beside him made him mad. He had a lot of experience with child raising, so he knew what to do and what not to do and he also acted on instinct—he had figured that Kuruk and Irka, and Duru and Cyla, and Shaam knew this too; from what he had just heard, it looked like his figuring was very wrong.

After upending his drink, then setting his glass down, he looked at Angel's breasts again; his cock felt about ready to pop from the underpants and pants that contained it, but he managed to ignore it and the pressure that he was feeling down there. Without saying a word, he reached forward; after Angel recoiled from his touch, which had only just been applied to her right breast, he got his answer on why her breasts were so big—she had yet to relieve them of the milk that they were carrying.

"Let what they say go through one ear and then out the other." TrobrencusVile said. "They're bullies... adult bullies."

"I do that and they—"

"So, my nephew hit you after you expressed the stress that you've been put under these past... two weeks? Three?"

"Thirteen days." Angel replied.

"What brought on the fight?" TrobrencusVile asked.

"Your nephew asking if I had written you yet." Angel replied. "I said that I couldn't because of all that's going on at home, which he called bull on." after saying this, she sighed then said, "Sudir and Selik—your nephew's son's son and grandson—ganged up on Hazaar on the twenty-fifth. They cut his hair clean off his head with a pair of scissors. Before that happened, my grandfather was caught stealing some of my sons' stuff. My grandparents, after coming upon me letting one of my sons nurse from me, have also tried to keep me from my children too."

"Shaam and I are pretty close—I'm surprised that he hit you because he seems to be rather close to you." TrobrencusVile said distantly. "Are you sure that—"

"Happened in the dining room four nights ago—my sons, Eshal, and the Ubalki children were escorted from the room right after we started fighting; the rest of the children remained in the room." Angel interrupted Trobrencus again. "The meal that I made that night was a bit late in getting to the table—Tazir, and my sons, were the only ones to help me in getting the food to the table. The fight started almost immediately after we started eating. It was like they were—"

"Spring-loaded. Ready to leap out at you at any second." it was now TrobrencusVile's turn in interrupting her. "I take it that they're also on you for your culinary talents?"

"Cyla, mostly. Her and her husband claim that I cook too much, and that my sons eat too much." Angel replied.

"How many are in the house?"

"Twenty-nine,"

"Does call for a lot of cooking... who arrived last?"

"Dara Dara and Triskull. My grandfather and his family arrived on the twenty-first, and your nephew arrived the day before they did. Your nephew's son and his family arrived on the sixteenth."

"Are you able to add more to your ticket?" TrobrencusVile asked. "Say, oh, fifteen more."

"Long as I have some help in getting things to the table—cooking is exhaustive work." Angel replied. She knew that Trobrencus was referring to him and his family as the "fifteen more".

"Bahne and my daughters can concur with that." TrobrencusVile said. He was quiet for a few minutes before standing up; after standing, he went to his desk then sat down. "Apology accepted."

That was the hardest conversation that she had ever had with anyone that was related to her—the act of her letting it all out was exhausting, so she automatically knew that she would be taking a nap here and soon after leaving Trobrencus's place.

She had acted in a natural way after Trobrencus's hand was noticed as both reaching towards her and then touching one of her delicate areas—fear of his trying something with her had mixed in well with the pain and anger that she had felt; there was no mistaking the bulge that he had between his legs. If she had to make any guesses, the man had something that was over six inches between his legs—the act of his having her sit beside him, and then touching her breast, had caused her to think that he was about to try a fast one in raping her. The regular scare was over, now it's time to add some humiliation to it, she had thought after he did them two things. Luckily, for him and her, he hadn't tried anything that'd warrant her fighting, and then injuring, him or his victimizing her.

Trobrencus, about a minute to two minutes after sitting behind his desk, opened one of his desk's drawers then reached into it. The can that he removed from the drawer was small, round, and silver in color; after removing the cap that was on this can, he stuck his pinky finger into it then, in prompt order, stuck it up his nose—she, out of both repulsion and respect, looked down. If she had to make any guesses, the can had a sort of cocaine or sniffing powder in it—with Trobrencus being one in a prominent family, she'd be right surprised if he didn't do a spot or two of drugs from time to time.

After giving the man his privacy, Angel detected him breathing whatever he had put up his nose into his sinus cavities. He repeated the process of putting the unknown substance up his other nostril before closing the can and then returning it to its drawer.

"You do know what—" TrorbencusVile stopped for a second to sneeze; after sneezing, he blew his nose then reached down for the drawer that the can had been returned to. The can, and a squeeze bottle, that Angel figured had a sort of nose-sniffing drug, or eye drops, in it, was placed on the desk's surface before he went on in talking to her. "Zomos, you do know what the species is, right?"

"The half of you," Angel was fast to say. Zomos were a fully zombified species; as far as she knew, they were strong, intelligent, and were known to not venture far from the Mio Galaxy, which was where a mass majority of the species was born in. "Your mother was a pureblood."

"Correct," TrobrencusVile nodded his head. "The species is prone to getting colds, and to being suseptible to allergens. While missing out on getting the gene for being cold sensitive I got a good dose of being sensitive to allergens—I've been tortured since my homecoming, but I'm managing. Fifty thousand years ago, I nearly succumbed to my little problem—came close to giving the order for every tree and flower, blooming or not, to be removed from my property. My physician was fast in getting on me, and my problem, and in prescribing me these." he gestured at the can and squeeze bottle. "What're them two things in your bag? When I was looking through it earlier, I found a small bag that had two, white pills in it and a packet of something called Benadryl on its bottom."

She gave him a stern, but comical, look after hearing that he had done as she had figured he'd do in looking through her bag's contents—to hear that he had found what he had in her bag was a surprise. During the early months of 4095, 4097, and 4098, she had been plagued by allergies—a doctor had given her a prescription for Zyrtec about nine months ago; before being prescribed this, she had purchased the over-the-counter medicine called Benadryl for her problem, which had done the trick up to that year's spring season. With it being the latter part of December, them two drugs shouldn't be in her bag or in her possession—yet, according to Trobrencus, they were.

Angel figured that Trobrencus was telling her about his allergy problem to give her a heads up on it; he probably didn't want her to be jumping all down his back about what all he used for his sinus issues.

She spoke of what the two items were, and of what they were for, before voicing her "displeasure" on his looking through her bag.

"When I get home, I'll be sure to let every female know about your fetish in sifting through purses."

"I felt an urge and went for it—your bag is right nice." TrobrencusVile replied. "The pocketknife is nice, but much too small for any good use, and the pepper spray is a hoot, my dear Ragamuffin."

"Protection uses only, not for play."

"Should get Tazzy to get you something more useful—those two things are pitiful." TrobrencusVile said. After saying this, he changed the subject to something that she wasn't able to keep up with. "How's Tazir with dogs?"

"With what?"

"A Canis lupus familiaris—how is he with dogs? He like them or—"

"I have no idea." Angel answered.

"Does he have any pets at his place?"

"He's got bats, fish, and Platypuses." Angel replied. "And I have three Sekhems."

"He doesn't have any hunting dogs?" TrobrencusVile asked.

"A pack of MoHunds, yes—they're very well cared for, and kept in heavy-duty cages." Angel replied.

"Grab your bag and come with me, please." TrobrencusVile said after pushing her bag forward. He stood up, then rounded his desk, then went towards the room's doors.

She did as she was told then followed him; while walking beside him, she noticed the smell that was coming from him—her nose came very close to curling in on itself, and her eyes came close to watering, because of it. The man, she knew, was a particularly clean one; he showered twice a day and he used a sort of shampoo and soap that had a vanilla scent to it—regardless of them two items' use, the smell of rotting flesh, and death and decay, was still very prominent! How Bahne was able to withstand that smell was beyond her; she might well of gotten use to it or, quite possibly, she loved the man enough to not notice or speak of it, or, maybe, there was something else going on that caused her to not be effected by it. During the ride in his car, she hadn't been able to detect the smell—she had been too terrified to do so. Now that she was calm, and now that things were a little more relaxed between her and Trobrencus, she could now detect it.

TrobrencusVile led her almost all the way down the third level's hallway before stopping and then making a left turn; when he reached a set of stairs, he went down them effortlessly. She followed behind him by, at least, two steps—he didn't say for her to keep up or even look back to see if she was following him or not.

Angel took in none of the decor—that, she viewed, was disrespectful; she neither wanted to attract any negative attention to herself or be in any way, shape, or form disrespectful towards the man who still had that very noticable bulge in the seat of his pants. If he was leading her to somewhere where they'd be allowed to have a "private" movement, he'd have a problem on his hands—while being shorter and smaller than he, she could fight very hard and that went double for her being able to bite too.

TrobrencusVile led her to a green glass door that had leaf and vine designs on it; he opened it with a green key, then ushered her from his castle, then, after closing, and then locking the door, followed her.

There was a white concrete path running from a side concrete slab that had a cast iron table and two chairs on it; the path went directly to the red and gray brick building that was beside the mini forest. Trobrencus, after following her a short distance, edged past her—along with "striking" her with his pelvis, he rubbed his bulge on her, which did more than freak her out. As she walked in his shadow, she pulled the shoulder strap of her bag over her; her bag flopped at her side as she followed the man.

She heard the calls that the area's local avian life was making; she heard the leaves of the tress that were in the mini forest blowing in the wind; and she heard the ducks in the one pond calling to one another. While taking in these sounds, she hurried herself along—Trobrencus, who had a good length of leg on him, and who was really putting some speed in on his walk, was nearly five steps ahead of her. He seemed to be in a hurry, which gave her a small cause to be alarmed—the idea of his throwing her into the red and gray brick building, then slamming the door behind him before rushing at her to relieve the pressure that was present between his legs crossed her mind again. She slowed down when she got to within a step and a half of him; when Trobrencus reached the building, he wasted no time in grabbing the handle of the door. With a groan, he heaved the steel door open; after opening it to about halfway, he ushered her in. When the door was shut, she and he were plunged into a darkness that was sort of spooky.

"Dogs are well-known to be good relievers of stress." TrobrencusVile said absently after entering the building. There was a rustling sound, then the lights in the building came on; she and he blinked their eyes for a few seconds before moving down the aisle that was before them.

The building's inhabitants started to bark once the lights were on; the fierce-looking beasts that were in the building's cages were quite frightening. They had large, white teeth in their mouths; their eyes were beady, and were either red or yellow in color; and their long bodies were covered in huge, bulging muscles. The animals, she was sure, were Trobrencus's hunting canines; they howled, yipped, and snarled at her while she was passing them but they went silent after seeing the one that mastered them.

The concrete floor was smooth, but not slick; the interior walls were like the exterior ones; and the ceiling was made of yellow concrete. The belled light fixtures, that were hanging from the ceiling, were lighting everything up well. They went by several kennels—that had a heavy resemblance to those that Tazir had his hunting canines in—before stopping; Trobrencus, after stopping, turned towards the kennel that he was standing beside then reached into the left-side pocket of his pants.

The kennel that he was standing before had seven dogs in it; one of the animals was mature in appearance while the others were juveniles. Trobrencus, after removing a key-ring from his pocket, then finding the kennel's key, stepped forward; he inserted the key into the kennel's lock, then twisted it, then opened the door and went in.

The adult dog, who stood about twenty-four inches at the shoulder, and who had a long, broad nose and muzzle, barked after Trobrencus entered the kennel. The fur that the animal had on her was smooth, and silky, but thick in certain areas; it was a speckled gray color that had some black patches on it. The hair running along the top of her tail was wavy; she had feathering on her ears, legs, and on the underside of her tail. Trobrencus gave the dog a pat, then told her to sit—which she was very obedient in doing—, then he snatched up one of the pups that were begging him for some attention. After the puppy was in his arms, he turned then left the kennel.

"Here you are," TrobrencusVile said while plopping the puppy in her arms. "Take good care of her now—she comes from good stock."

"Trob, this is really, very nice of you but—"

"You'll find that your vehicle's been fixed up for you—it's back by the front gate." TrobrencusVile cut her off. "Be looking out for me and mine in four days—we should be able to take some of the pressure from you; the puppy, and your sons, will take care of the rest."

Before she could say his name again, he went down the building's aisle then, in like fashion, left the building; she, who had felt the bulge in his pants rub up against her again, stood where she was for a matter of minutes, thinking things over, and trying to get a better understanding towards what just happened, before looking down to take in what had been given to her.

The puppy, who looked to be no more than two to two and a half months old, was small but she did look to be finely bred. She found herself as liking the color of the coat quickly—the gray intermingled with the brown in the coat well, and there were two, small patches on her sides that were either a dark brown or dark gray color. Like the adult dog, the puppy had feathering on her.

After taking in the puppy, Angel sighed—come here to see if Trobrencus had gotten her letter; get scared out of her skin by him; then expose a few things to him; then get uncomfortable with him after he started rubbing himself on her; then find herself being given a puppy. This was a lot to digest, and it wasn't even noon yet!

Angel left the building that the kennels were in then walked over to where the front gate was—it was open and, as Trobrencus had said, her car was by it. After going past the gate, she went to her car then got in. The puppy practically jumped into the front passenger seat after she was in the car. The car, when she started it, purred like always—another thing that Trobrencus had said to her had been validated: the car had, indeed, been fixed of the damages that had been made to it. After starting the car, then pulling the gear shift back, she backed away from the gate; she had only just turned her car to facing the road when something caught in her peripheral vision.

The black figure, that looked to be wearing jeans, and the remnants of a blue hoodie, formed very quickly, then charged at her. This figure, who had glowing yellow eyes, that were shaped like scalene triangles, struck the back of her car just as her foot was stomped to the gas pedal—the vibration from the figure striking her car was very real, as was the fear that she was feeling. The puppy, in like fashion, jumped from the passenger seat then hid under the seat—a whine was heard from her before she cried.

"You said that you didn-k-t abandon me yet you run from me? Wha-k-t's up with that, mum!" the hair, that was on the back of her neck, stood on end; her flesh became pocked; and she came close to crying—she had heard that from inside her car!

After hearing the low, nasally-sounding voice, that seemed to have a very teenage-like quality to it, she wasted no time in teleporting; with all that she had gone through that morning, she most wanted to be home. She'd worry about how Tazir was going to react to the puppy later—right now, she wanted to go home and then lock herself in the relative safety that was a room.


	25. Chapter 25

The act of his opening the door to his and his wife's bedroom chamber, and then looking in before moving on down the hall, towards his office, was an innocent one. With what happened three, nearly four days ago, he wanted to ensure that she was where she was suppose to be and doing what she was suppose to be doing—which was being in their bedroom and being asleep. After seeing that she was in bed, and was sound asleep, he gave his head a nod then moved on; while this now-former act of his had been a relatively easy one to do he knew that he was to experience a sort of difficulty with the one that was coming up.

Though he wanted to do it—go up to the third level, then check on the children before coming back down—he forced himself to stay on the level that he was on; for the last three days, he had been struggling to do the most simplest of tasks and, for nearly all of that day, he had been prevented from doing the one task that he both needed and wanted to do.

"Mistress? Mistress, wait... wait! Mistress!"

"What's going on? Lass? Lass, hold up a second!"

"Angel? Angel... slow down and calm down, please!"

For the last three nights, he had been tormented by hearing Losal's, his grandfather's, and his sister-in-law's voices either questioning or pleading for his wife to slow down in her progress to the house's second level; the late evening of January 1 looked to be no different than the ones that preceded it. He heard the voices, and he heard his wife's sobbing, and he saw himself rushing down the hallway and then intercepting her before she had a chance to close and then lock the door to the room that she had run to... he, on that late, December 29 morning, had been able to see that she had come home scared, and with an animal to boot, and he had also been able to hear her say that "nothing happened" during her visit with Trobrencus before finding himself as being "kicked out" from the room that she ran and then locked herself up in.

"She sped through the gate, sir." Losal said in this near-four day old memory of his. "After speeding through the gate, then to the portion of the driveway that's close to the porch, she threw the door to her car open, then grabbed something that was on the front passenger seat, then tore inside. I no more had the door open for her before finding her as flashing by me and then charging up one of the foyer's staircases."

"She on something, Lad? Came close to trampling all over me after getting to this level." his grandfather had said after Losal's words were expelled.

"Wouldn't say anything... but she was sure crying something fierce." his sister-in-law had said. "Was it her purse that she was clutching so tightly? Did she go somewhere or something?"

She went somewhere alright. To a place that he had only been to twice and to a location that he had thought was safe. While it was a little too late now he realized that he should of never let her go to that location, or see the man that owned that location. Something had happened to her during her visit with Trobrencus and he had yet to learn what it was—did Trob hurt her, or scare her bad enough to do as she did, or had something else happened that was irrelevant to her time spent with Trobrencus? All he really knew was that, when she left, it was heading on 9:15 a.m.; at the time that Trobrencus's call, which specified that she had been admitted to his place, was received, it was 9:59 a.m... what the hell had happened between them two times? Nearly forty-five minutes had happened between her leaving and Trobrencus's call being received—so much could of happened to her in that time...

He went down the hall, trying to forget the voices, and trying to get his mind set on the thing that he now needed to do; when he reached the door that went to his office, he wasted no time in throwing it open or in turning around to close it. Surprisingly, the task of crossing his office was easy. He found himself as believing that he'd be able to do as he both needed and wanted to do all while making the trek to his desk, and then pulling the chair out from underneath it, and then sitting in it. Once his butt was in the chair, he found himself as being plagued by his old nemesis—he seemed slow in reaching down to unlock the drawer that the unsent invites were in, and he had to do more than kick his ass to open the drawer and then remove the invites that were in it. When it came time to arrange the invites on his desk, he found himself as being very uninterested in them.

"The ones that go to my sisters, and their spouses, go in one pile while the ones that go to their offspring, and their families, go in the next..." he thought while forcing himself to put the invites in two, neatly organized piles.

Though it took a degree of effort, he did, finally, arrange them in the two piles that he was intending to create on his desk. After the invites were on his desk, and were arranged in the way that he wanted them to be in, he set to looking at them. While he had managed to get farther in doing this task on this try he wasn't but so surprised to find himself as being unable to go further in doing it or in making an attempt to finish it. It took him nearly five minutes of mindless staring before he finally decided to push himself from his desk. After removing himself from his chair, then rounding the item that he needed to sit before, he paced his office—this was ridiculous! The issue of looking at the addresses that were on the envelopes, and checking the number of invites per envelope, and seeing if the names that were written on the invites were correct was an important one but he was just not able to do it—the events that occurred nearly four days ago were preventing him from doing what he should be doing.

"Said for her to drive up to the gate and then wait for Trobrencus to press the button that'd open it for her... nothing from me was said on her following a man who had intentions to hurt her, or who'd allow for what happened between them to happen." he thought while pacing his office.

If the event that occurred on the morning of December 29 was going to prevent him from doing what he needed to do then, maybe, having a session of thinking it out would put some of his conscience at rest—the Gods surely knew how much he had been trying to either forget it or push it to the far recesses of his mind.

His wife, after running to and then locking herself in a room, had stayed in that room for around three hours before coming out; along with being noted as checking the hallway both ways, and then leaving the room very hesitantly, she had gone to their bedroom for a shower and then some fresh clothes. Homsi, he recalled, had been asked to bring her a bottle of wine and a glass right after she was dressed—instead of taking her what he had been requested to take to her, he had been stopped and then questioned on why he had them two items on him. He, who had had a most nerve-wracking three hours, had taken over in taking them two items to her after getting an answer to the two questions that he had asked the Goblin. All while letting her sit on their bed, and consume two glassfuls of the beverage, he had asked her questions on what was wrong and why her arrival home went in the way it did.

Except for saying that Trobrencus was the source of where the puppy came from she had said nothing on what happened between he and her; with all that happened in the three hours that occurred between her homecoming and her being noted as being out of the room that she had locked herself in, he had forgotten all about the puppy being in the house. Angel, after retrieving the animal from the room that she had spent three hours in, had shown him it before saying that she was one of the pups born on Trobrencus's property during his and his family's absence.

"He, after hearing all of what's going on here, told me to follow him. He took me straight to his kennel, then he gave me her. He left the kennel right after she was in my arms." she had said after showing him the puppy.

He had given that animal a long, quiet look before blinking his eyes and then giving his head a shake; while he was okay with dogs, he wasn't all that grand a dog person—they left their stools in the house; they chewed the carpets, and the furniture; they scratched the walls and floors; and they required a lot of vet care and attention. While he was sure that the boys, and Eshal, would teach the dog right from wrong, and while he was sure that he and his wife would have to join them on some of the instances where the animal would need to be taught what was and wasn't appropriate to do in the house, he wasn't all that favoring towards the animal being in the house.

The idea of his telling her to go back to Gamma Vile and then return the animal to the one that it had come from had run itself through his head numerous times; despite being a strong idea, and despite having a good meaning and point behind it, he hadn't been able to voice it. With Angel being so upset, and with everyone in the house being either very concerned or upset over her, and with the children's eyes growing very bright after it was shown to them, he had just not had the heart to tell her to return the animal to the one who had given it to her.

Angel claimed that all she had done after locking herself in the room that she had taken up for them three, long hours was sit and stare at the wall; the animal that she had brought back had either lay, all curled up, on her lap or had walked around, giving everything that was in the room a good sniffing. Nothing amiss had been found in that room after he went in to see if she had done something while his wife was in her state so he figured that the claim was a truthful one.

"And, once the door to the room that she took up for them three hours was shut, and then locked, I decided to take a trip down to where her car was parked."

No one had touched it, or had gone to move it from where it had been parked to the garage; with all that was going on in the house, no one had been thinking clearly—and he had a feeling that his staff knew that he'd be interested in looking at the car too. In a way, it had taken just one look for him to know that something amiss was going on with it—there had been a feeling around it that he had just not been able to miss. After saying the spell that'd cause anything that was masked on the vehicle to appear, he had gasped; apparently, the Damage Disappearing spell had been done on the car sometime during his wife's absence—the fender had been found as being smashed, the windshield was shattered, the hood was buckled in more than two places, and the headlights were broken. There had been all sorts of burn areas present on the vehicle's left side, which had also been scraped of its paint in several areas, and the side view mirror had also been noted as hanging from the car's body too. What the hell had happened for his wife's car to be so badly damaged? According to Ulok Gzujus, who was rather smart with mechanical and car-related things, the damage done to the car could only be done by another car.

After being told that the interior of the vehicle's driver's side had burn marks on it, he went into the house then grabbed and dragged his grandfather out; his grandfather, after seeing the extensive damage to the vehicle, had grown very concerned—the same occurred after everyone else "ventured" out to see why he was so "excited" about the car that his wife had driven that morning.

"Me, my father, grandfather, sister-in-law, and mother, around thirty to forty minutes after she was noted as moving about the house, took turns in sitting her down and then trying to get her to speak of what happened." he came close to saying after stopping before the office's one statue.

Of course, Angel wouldn't speak a thing of what happened. She continued to insist that her visit with Trobrencus was a nice and pleasant one, and that everything was cool between them. With the car being as badly damaged as it was, and with her coming home being so scared, and with a puppy to boot, he, and they, called bull on that. Except for him and his mother, everyone had grown frustrated with her lack of cooperation—while his grandfather had given her a sad shake of the head before getting up to let the next participant take his place his father and sister-in-law had given her an earful on what she should and shouldn't be keeping from people; thanks to them two, she had grown upset, which had caused both he and his mother's interrogation to be put to a temporary halt until she calmed down.

"Trob said that he and his family will be over for their visit in four days." she had said around ten minutes after his session with her started.

Let them come, he had thought after hearing this, and then nodding his head, and then getting up from the chair that he had been sitting in; when they did show their faces for their visit, he'd be searching out and then having a good talk with Trobrencus. No one scared his wife like they had a few days ago! He wanted answers and he wanted them as swiftly as he could get them—if he couldn't get them from his wife then he could well get them from Trobrencus!

His wife, about an hour after being interrogated, had taken the puppy up and then gone to find where the kids were; the task of tracking them down, and then showing them their new "pet" had been done afterwards—he, in a way, wished that she hadn't done that. With her homecoming being the way it was, and with his finding her car as having a spell on it that masked the damage that had been put on it, he had come very close to saying that the puppy couldn't be kept. In his eyes, he viewed Trobrencus's "gift" as something akin to a hush-hush card—one of them I'll give you this and you say nothing on what happened between us things.

So far, the animal hadn't done anything in the house; the carpeted and non-carpeted floors, the walls, and the furniture was all intact, and no messes had been found, and they hadn't been kept up at all hours of the night because of the animal either not wanting to go to sleep or wanting to play during the hours where they were suppose to be sleeping. Angel and the boys, and Eshal, were tending the creature well.

"And I am glad for that—while I already knew that Angel could take care of an animal I didn't know if one of the children would be able to do so. They're showing responsibility, which is a good thing to see them doing."

He paced and paced and paced for the longest of time before, finally, forcing himself to return to his chair and then doing the task that he needed to do; though it was a grand struggle, he did manage to read through the first stack of invites that were on his desk.

WhoslaVile and Zebyr Verobari  
12 Crisimaja Street, 278451-09685  
Planet Malndor, M-51 Galaxy

BeklaVile and Keibo Sebatu  
45865 Remegsne Drive, 120985-74590  
Planet Zaikeo, M-51 Galaxy

VaibaVile and Majeer Doshluna  
676 Hosai Court, 435641-75346  
Planet Gamma Vile, M-51 Galaxy

AraimeeVile Surfeit  
4532 Oleggen Drive, 239856-75761  
Planet Gamma Vile, M-51 Galaxy

AzvraVile Surfeit  
4543 Oleggen Drive, 239856-75761  
Planet Gamma Vile, M-51 Galaxy

TakkeVile and Kokan Hyunduzia  
549 Quaf Street, 234312-32461  
Planet Haaglurn, M-51 Galaxy

BellatanVile Surfeit and Canere Klaie  
745 Belldaire Court, Apt. 12, 254314-34120  
Planet Gamma Vile, M-51 Galaxy

DaispaVile Surfeit and Chokota Zentuie  
751 Belldaire Court, Apt. 21, 254314-34120  
Planet Gamma Vile, M-51 Galaxy

ZajraVile Surfeit and Poa Pendusklia  
954 Reldaa Drive, 075621-00985  
Planet Mooshang, M-51 Galaxy

KashiraVile and Bushon Bedali  
85 Hoftur Court, 000985-00021  
Planet Gamma Vile, M-51 Galaxy

TulaVile and Rubacon Iovides  
099 Plevak Drive, Apt. 5, 111090-12091  
Planet Mooshang, M-51 Galaxy

That was a lot of envelopes to send out; eleven total, and a majority had more than one invite in them. Araime and Azvra were single while the others were married and had children. As far as he knew, there were no new arrivals—no new nieces or nephews—to his family.

After looking through the contents that were in the first stack, then returning them to the drawer that they had come from, he looked at the second stack's contents. Regardless of what happened three days ago, he was still under a lot of pressure to mail out everyone else's invite—after what happened to his wife, and with two of his sons acting funny, he was half-willing to put all of the rest of the invites away and then saying no on sending them out when they were brought up again.

"Dammit!" he cursed after feeling himself as being, once again, hindered from finishing the task at hand. This time, it wasn't his concern for his wife, or the wondering of what happened during her trip to see Trobrencus, that caused him to be unable to go on in looking through the invites; the act of thinking about how changed his two sons were was the cause of this new hiccup. He, after five minutes of fighting himself, sighed then sat back in his chair; maybe some time to think over the issue that he had just thought of would do him, and his conscience, some good—like with the prior one, he had been trying to push it to the back recesses of his mind these last few days.

Lhaklar and Lazeer, while making decent strides in becoming settle in the house earlier that week, had changed almost overnight; up to the night of December 29, they had been moving about the house on their own, and partaking in activities in the gym or library without a problem, and had been talking to others. They were no longer doing that now. Lhaklar and Lazeer were now being very overly clingy with their mother—she couldn't go anywhere without having the two of them as tagging along either behind or beside her—and Lhaklar was barely speaking with anyone in the house. Lazeer, quite concernedly, was refusing to come out from his room unless someone—Angel or Bile, meaning—came up to retrieve him. Despite the two looking to be loving the new "pet", he was able to see that there were some issues going on with them—besides the over-clinginess to their mother, and their either not speaking to anyone or wanting to leave their chambers without having someone as coming up to retrieve them, the look, that was present in their eyes, wasn't right.

Could they be stressed out? They were being bullied on a near-daily basis, and his father, and his wife, were almost constantly on their backs about what they were doing during the day hours... were the ones who were staying for their lengthy stay doing something to make his sons be in the way that they were or was something else at work? Bile and Hazaar were still going around, acting like themselves, so he wasn't worrying about them; Eshal was also acting like her old, natural self, so he wasn't worried about her either.

"The puppy seems to be the only thing that will bring them out from their weird state—they play with the creature; they feed it, and give it water; and they laugh themselves silly whenever its around them... but, when the animal's somewhere else in the house, or is with Eshal, the two return to being as they were." he thought just before giving himself a good foot up the ass in finishing what he needed to do.

NishonaVile Sebatu  
29 Chokinti Drive, 090761-09489  
Planet Gamma Vile, M-51 Galaxy

WebalaVile Sebatu  
32 Chokinti Drive, 090761-09489  
Planet Gamma Vile, M-51 Galaxy

BralaVile Verobari  
12 Karplo Drive, Apt. 43, 987451-09001  
Planet Keaipa, M-51 Galaxy

VrawieVile Verobari  
26 Karplo Drive, Apt. 59, 987451-09001  
Planet Keaipa, M-51 Galaxy

ShenieVile Verobari  
57 Jegrah Drive, Apt. 12F, 910401-00001  
Planet Keaipa, M-51 Galaxy

NekkeVile Doshluna  
1231 Qeenan Boulevard, Apt. 43, 095641-03451  
Planet Gamma Vile, M-51 Galaxy

AesaVile Doshluna  
320 Uvintu Boulevard, Apt. 65, 012001-98500  
Planet Gooho, M-51 Galaxy

KulabaiVile Surfeit and Salbira Sleab  
0971 Merintha Drive, Apt. 12, 211092-87900  
Planet Gamma Vile, M-51 Galaxy

Vile Vile  
606 Terracota Drive, 110110-90012  
Planet Gamma Vile, M-51 Galaxy

Rita Repsula Vile and Lord Zedd  
1 Moon 12, 012431-08671  
Planetary Moon, Milky Way Galaxy

Rito Revolto Vile  
1 Moon 12, 012431-08671  
Planetary Moon, Milky Way Galaxy

Now he felt proud of himself; the task that he had been trying to do all day, but that he had been prevented from doing, was all done. All he had to do was put the second stack of invites in with the rest and then lock the drawer that they were all in—the event of a series of invites being sent out accidentally wasn't about to have a repeat! After doing this final item, which wasn't all that hard to do, and which he had no issue in doing, he found himself as feeling free—or, at least until another area of concern came to his mind.

While getting up from his chair, then going down to the bar, which was on the house's first level, he thought about what was going on between his wife and his niece. Dara Dara, as of the last couple of days, had been getting on his wife's nerves—she had been telling her to stop doing this in her daily routine, and to stop Bile from doing that in his daily routine, and she had also been discovered as telling Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer to keep their time around Bile "low". The latter area, which had only just been made present, had caused his wife to about explode—along with giving the woman a good piece of her mind, she had also told her to not track down or tell her sons that they needed to regulate their time around one another. The true cause to Dara Dara's constant phone call placements, which occurred at near-noon and supper hour, had been discovered earlier that afternoon; after eavesdropping on one of her made calls, he had found her as both talking to Vile and making a report on what was going on in his house—she, he presumed, had been doing this from Day 1 of her being here.

He had told her to stop doing both and she, despite saying that she understood what she was doing, and saying that she'd stop doing what she was doing, had continued doing as she was—Vile's number was back to being blocked, and she had been threatened of being thrown from his house if he continued to hear and see of her doing as she was. The act of his threatening to throw her from the house had caused him to "land" in a bit of hot water with her mother but he had managed to stand firm and get both to quiet up and then go off to another part of the house.

What Dara Dara was doing was the last thing that he both needed and wanted right now; his wife, and their sons, needed things to be calm in the house—things were just not that right now. They were under a lot of stress, and two of them were becoming very unsettle, and he was gravely worried about them.

"The second stack of envelopes consisted of fourteen invites; the grand total in unsent invites is thirty-seven, which means that a further thirty-seven people will be in the house after they're all sent out." he tried to regain the free-feeling that he had felt after finishing the task that he had been meaning to do all day but that he hadn't been able to do. "With Trobrencus having a family of fifteen, and with their arrival being somewhere around a couple to several hours away, the official tally is fifty-two—or, unless one or more of the people coming over have kids that I'm not aware of, then the number might be over that."

While his home was big enough to accommodate the people that were expected to come over he wasn't very sure on how his wife and sons were going to react after everyone was here. He hoped, for his and his family's sake, that everything would be fine and that everyone would mellow down and get in the groove of doing what they were there to do, which was to see and get to know the boys and get reacquainted with Angel.

After reaching the house's bar, then downing two drinks, he yawned; with it heading on 12 a.m., he really did need to go to bed—with his wife, who had spent the last two nights upstairs, on the third level, sleeping in the same bed as he that night, he had something to really look forward to, which was sleep with her. He was glad that she was back to sleeping in their chamber again and he was also glad to see that this formerly done routine of theirs was slowly making a return; he hoped that it'd continue because he really missed her during the night hours.

"So quit dawdling and get up there! Don your PJ's, or down everything except your underwear, then get in bed." a small smile pulled at the side of his mouth as he went to do as his mind told him to do.


	26. Chapter 26

Despite the slightly crisp breeze, that was blowing in from the sea that early morning, and the heavy cloud cover, she and her siblings were very agreeing to going outside. She, and they, went out the door, then crossed the porch, then went down the porch steps in a neatly arranged line; after going a short distance from the porch, they stopped then waited for their mother to do as they had just done.

While most of yesterday had been a roller coaster for her and her brothers the night had been pleasant and, quite surprisingly, so had the minutes that waned both before and after breakfast was consumed. They, about twenty minutes after the first meal of the day was consumed, had discussed the matter of going outside, and with seeing if the puppy could go out with them; she, like her brothers, was really looking forward to playing with the cute puppy that her mam had brought home four days ago and she was also looking forward to when she'd finally get a name—calling her The Puppy, or Miss. Puppy, was getting a bit stale now.

"Have you picked a name for her yet, mam?" Eshal asked after her mother descended the porch steps, then placed the puppy before her and her brothers.

"No. That's you and your brothers' job." Angel replied. "I named my Sekhems, you five pick a name for Miss. Puppy."

"And now it's time for us to fuss and fight over what the name's going to be." Bile joked. "Everyone, grab a pen, and a few pieces of paper, then start writing—ma's to read and then pick one before lunch is made."

She, and most of her brothers, gave Bile a weird look after he said what he did. What a ludicrous suggestion, she thought; she had never participated in something like what he had just suggested and, honestly, she was hoping that his suggestion wouldn't be put into effect. If the puppy was to get a name, then she was to get a name that they all agreed with vocally, and not on plain paper or having their mam choose what it was after they wrote it down on a piece of paper and then gave it to her to read.

In her mind, the act of writing a probable name for the new pet down on a piece of paper, and then giving it to one of the two adults that were in the house, was childish—for her brother, on the other hand, he thought that it was better than their plain fighting about what it was that they were to name the puppy and that it'd prevent some of the adults, who thought that they shouldn't have a dog, from saying anything negative to them when they started thinking and then pinning names to the animal.

Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer obviously agreed with her notion on the subject of their writing a bunch of names on a piece of paper and then giving it to their mother to read and then decide which was to be given to their pet—they started saying a bunch of names that could be placed to the puppy almost immediately after Bile's suggestion was made.

"How about Patrillia?" Hazaar asked.

"Yuck!" Lazeer made a face before taking up a black tennis ball, that had red and green stitching on it. The puppy, after the ball was in his hand, eyed it greedily. "How about Aikma, or Aikme?"

"Jarishka?" Lhaklar suggested.

"Azumi?" Eshal said. "Lazeer, throw the ball. Think Miss. No-Name wants to play chase this morning."

"Heave Ho and away she go!" Lazeer said loudly. He pulled his arm back then he shot it forward; the puppy, after the ball disappeared behind some bushes, ran after it.

The puppy went off, leaving them all by their lonesome; in a way, he didn't mind this because it gave him a chance to think of what had been happening over the last couple of days. He started off with the events that happened after his mother went off to see the man who claimed that his father would have their wholes on a pike for what they did to him and his—after she went off, they took up position by one of the windows that looked out on the front lawn. They had watched for a while before someone came up to "persuade" them from the windows, and then tell them to go to some other part of the house; he, who had done some serious back-tracking after being told to leave the window that he had taken to sit before, had waited the longest for her to return—but, sadly, he hadn't been able to see her come home or see the events that occurred after she came home.

While he had eaten breakfast, and taken a glass to two glasses of the beverage that was available for everyone during the meal down, he hadn't indulged in going to the bathroom any that morning. After waking, he had just gotten dressed, and then brushed his teeth, before going down to say hello and good morning to his ma.

The adults, at around 10:30, had started making a lot of noise—due to his being in the can, taking a much needed piss, he had missed out on seeing all of what they were ranting and raving about. After discovering that she was home, he had tried to find her—dad, after intercepting him before a room that was on the house's second level, had told him to go downstairs and to remain there.

"She's taking a nap, and doesn't need to be disturbed right now, Bile." the man had said.

While he had obeyed the order given to him, his brothers had nearly not done so. Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer had come within a fraction of an inch of being daddy-grounded after refusing to leave the house's second level; for their sake, they had backed away, and then gone to either the first or third level before that punishment could be given. It had taken three hours before ma left the room that she was holed up in—it had been quite a surprise after they saw her as coming towards them with the puppy in her arms. With her looking fresh-faced, and looking to of just removed herself from the shower, she did look to of taken a nap. The puppy, she had said, was theirs; a gift from "Uncle Trob" was what she had said after placing the puppy down and then watching their reactions to it barking and running all around them.

He and Lhaklar had taken her to the side after the excitement over the puppy was expelled; they had asked her what happened after she arrived to Mr. Trob's place and she had said that everything was cool between them and that he had accepted her apology and that he was expected to come over for his visit in four days time.

Despite the happy energy that was given off by them whenever the puppy was around, he had a feeling that the one who owned the mansion wasn't very happy about the animal being in their possession or being allowed to roam the house. The Ubalki's, and Qeeta and Triskull, seemed to be rather accepting of their having the puppy while everyone else wasn't—the claim of their not being "ready" for a dog had been made on each of the days that followed December 29, as had the claim of their being spoiled and that they wouldn't take care of the animal.

"Four days and not once has she been neglected, I think we're doing well for being first-time dog owners." he thought while waiting for the puppy to return.

While waiting for the puppy to return, he looked at Lhaklar—this brother of his, it did seem, was waking earlier than all of them. Four the last four mornings, he had been awake, and dressed, and nearly all the way down to the dining room before they even had a chance to do their bathroom routine after getting dressed for the day. Lhaklar had done this on the occasions where he went out to fish before dawn broke; since it looked like the event of their being allowed to fish, or hunt, wasn't allowed to be done, or spoken about, anymore, this routine of his brother's was odd—but not as odd as the other new routine that he had been noticing over the last two to three days.

Lhaklar was no longer using the bathroom that was adjacent his bedroom. If he had to use the bathroom, he'd track down and then use one that wasn't in his bedroom... and, for some odd reason, he'd always have a darkly-colored towel on him whenever he went to use one.

The act of his having a towel on his person while going to use the bathroom was really weird—up to a few days ago, he had been using his bedroom's adjacent bathroom without a problem, and there had been no issue in his speaking to them or in his being seen as retrieving and then carting around a towel after deciding to make a bathroom visit either. He figured that he was hiding something—a problem of some sort that may be going on in the bathroom that was beside his bedroom—but, then again, that couldn't be it. Lhaklar knew how to re-work certain piping issues that came up in bathrooms, and he knew how to clean a bathroom, and de-clog a toilet and/or drain... if there was something going on with his brother, he was neither speaking or disclosing it to anyone. He was keeping it to himself, which was even stranger than his activity in taking a darkly-colored towel with him to the bathroom when he needed to either drop a load, or take a piss, or wash his hands.

"Yes—suckas!" Hazaar sang at them after the puppy returned, then dropped the ball before his feet. Like with the first time, the ball was picked up and then thrown; the puppy wasted no time in running after it.

"I'm telling daddy that you cussed." Eshal said after the puppy was off.

He, Hazaar, and Lazeer rolled their eyes at their sister's "threat" of telling the old man about the usage of "suckas"; after rolling his eyes, he turned to look at Lazeer. He was very concerned about him! While Lhaklar was being overly clingy with their mother he wasn't as clingy towards her as Lazeer was—along with refusing to leave his room unless having him or ma being there to "escort" him from it, he broke his neck to get and then stay by ma's side. He seemed to be very spooked about something, and he wasn't telling a soul about it. Lhaklar, just two days ago, when he confided in him about the issue, didn't seem to be all that concerned about it, which was just as shocking as it was surprising. Lhaklar's action in not being concerned about their brother's over-clingy ways wasn't like him. Like with Lhaklar, Lazeer was also being very quiet. Unless the puppy was around, Lazeer very rarely threw out the jokes, or did anything that was funny. He and Hazaar, who was also noting this change, and who was also concerned for him, had tried everything to get him to return to how he usually was to no avail.

As far as he knew, the old man was also having a time with Lhaklar and Lazeer—he was talking to them, and trying to get them to speak of their troubles, and they were doing nothing in return, which either made him mad or made him even more concerned for them.

Grampy Shaam claimed that it was just a nerve thing—their mother going off to visit someone, and leaving them all alone, had caused them to feel nervous and get to feeling insecure, was what the man had said about what was going on with Lhaklar and Lazeer. He didn't believe what the man said; their mother, when she had been on Earth, and when she had been employed to work at some establishment, had been away from home for anywhere between six and, sometimes, twelve hours. While they had felt saddened by her leaving them to go to work, and while they had ganged up on the living room windows to watch her as she left to go to work, they hadn't felt nervous or insecure about her not being with or around them—though it took them a few minutes to get over their sadness, they did go out and do their normal activities.

While this had been told to the man—and in "rich" detail too—he was steadfast on Lhaklar and Lazeer's strange behaviors coming from their nerves and from their "dependency" on their mother. The picking-on thing had started happening right after he said that—the man who was his grandfather had started it, then granpappy Duru had come in with his two-cents on the issue, then Irka had come in to speak her mind on the subject, then granmma Cyla had run her mouth.

"You make such a fuss over nothing, Angel. Visiting Trob, then coming home, shouldn't warrant you locking yourself in a room, or acting in the way that you were after coming in." Irka had said during supper four days ago.

"Probably just got a lesson on how forceful, and authoritative, the man can be—my uncle had right in doing what he did, but he didn't mean for you to take it the way you did, Lass." Shaam had said.

Naturally, the issue on his finding them in one of the third level's bedrooms with the puppy and their mother's pet Sekhems had been brought up at the time, which had caused the subject to change to something else. Duru, who had come upon them doing the introducing thing between the puppy and their mother's Sekhems, had said that they were going way wrong with the animals— _you shouldn't be introducing them to each other so fast, and you should have someone who has more experience in animal ownership around when the introductions do happen_ , he had said before trying to take the puppy up and then leave the room with her. Luckily, for them, and for their mother, who had been with them at the time, the puppy voiced her annoyance in the man's action in removing her from the room that they were in—after being caught, and then "cradled" in the man's arms, she had snarled and then bit him, which had prompted him to drop her and then leave the room in a huff.

Ma looked to be very smart with dogs, and she seemed to know what she was doing with animal ownership too. Ma had said that they were doing well, and that no one had right in telling them what to do with their new pet, after the man left the room that they, she, and the puppy and Sekhems were in—she had also said that people introduced their new pets to the already established pets in the household all the time, and that the same thing went with the already established pets being introduced to the new baby that was born and then brought home.

The puppy, while being very curious about the Sekhems, hadn't swatted, pounced, chased, barked, snapped, or snarled at the animals that she had been introduced to. The Sekhems had squeaked twice, and had acted like they were unsure of the puppy two to three times, before coming up and then initiating play with her. Ma had kept her eye on both the puppy, the Sekhems, and them all during the event—this, and this alone, told him that she knew what she was doing when it came to animal ownership. If anything had come up between either them and the puppy, or the puppy and the Sekhems, she would of come in and fast to either stop it or prevent it from happening.

"Alright, it is now _my_ turn to throw." Bile said after the puppy came back then placed the ball before him. After taking the ball up, then drawing his arm back, he threw his arm forward then watched as the ball went sailing. The tennis ball, after being thrown, was heard as making a splashing sound a few seconds later.

"Way to go Hercules!" Hazaar spat. Regardless of the over-done throw, the puppy was off in pursuit of the ball.

They waited for a short while for the puppy to return; when she refused to return to them, and when the game of throwing the ball, so she could retrieve and then bring it back to them, was put on stall, they went towards the spot where both she and the ball disappeared at.

Eshal, who seemed to now be acting very normally around them, and who they did allow to mingle in with them when it came time to their playing one of their game systems, followed them as they went to find where the puppy was. Their sister seemed to be more favoring towards feminine things, and hanging around Ashaklar, Blaiga, and Defe—for the last few days, she had been forced to spend time with Kaasa, his grandparents' young daughter, and Uevaa, his great-grandparents' young daughter; from what Hazaar had told him, she preferred hanging around her grandmother, and her daughters, than Kaasa and Uevaa because they accepted her better and regarded themselves in a better light that Kaasa and Uevaa did.

He could concur with that preference—he preferred to hang around either his brothers or with Phaggo more than Baruk and Sudir and Gaajah and Selik because they either accepted him better or didn't think of themselves as so high and mighty over others. If he wasn't hanging around his brothers, or Phaggo, he hung around his father, or granddad Cheshire, or Uncle Efagti and Amadh.

It took him and his brothers, and Eshal, a few minutes to get past a few thick bushes, then go down a winding trail, before coming upon a section of beach that was close to where the pier was. After getting to this section of beach, they stopped short then gazed at what was before them.

It seemed like a cruel slap to the face that such a nice morning was to turn into, what they believed, a muddled mess—Baruk, Gaajah, and Kaasa were standing in front of them. Gaajah had the tennis ball while Baruk was holding the puppy; Kaasa was doing nothing more than standing between them.

"The sons of the Puppy Thief have finally come to see where their mutt went." Baruk said. Bile, who didn't much like the fact of his mother being called a thief, stepped forward menacingly.

"Put the dog down, Baruk." Bile ordered.

"Don't hurt her!" Eshal cried after seeing that Baruk had the puppy.

"How is it that you're still hanging out with the scrubs, Bile?" Gaajah asked. "You should be hanging out with someone more your breeding. More your speed and—"

"And that, for sure, isn't you two." Bile said. "You'd see nothing more than my dust trail before having a chance to get into a good running pace."

"You bring the name of our family down by hanging out with such filth as they." Kaasa said evilly.

"If you haven't noticed, they _are_ my family." Bile sniffed before issuing out another command to Baruk. "Put the dog down, Baruk."

"Come and get her—if you think you are so tough, that is." Baruk replied.

Lhaklar gave his eyes a single blink after seeing Baruk as taking a step back into the froth that was bubbling up before the rocky shore; Bile had taken a step towards him and he, in response, had taken a step back. This happened a total of six times before Bile stopped and then figured out what was about to happen—the puppy was about to be made as a sort of pawn to create a fight between them; he hoped that she wouldn't be hurt by what was about to happen because, like his brothers, and Eshal, he did like her and he did wish to keep her.

The puppy was whimpering, and was trying her best to wriggle out from Baruk's grip; he didn't blame her a second for wanting to be away from the creep—with Baruk being a bully, and with his thinking that he was king of just about everything, he'd want to be away from him too. The coat of the unnamed animal was wet, so he thought that she had been in the water, probably trying to retrieve the ball that Bile over-threw, when she was picked up and then held as "ransom".

The tennis ball was thrown from Gaajah to Kaasa before being thrown towards Hazaar—Kaasa, it did seem, had been meaning to hurt Hazaar by under-throwing the ball; Hazaar stepped to the side to avoid it then walked on. Seeing as Lazeer was going in Kaasa's direction—he presumed that he was heading towards her as a way to distract her—, he decided to follow and aid him in what he thought he was planning on doing. Hazaar, who had faced against Gaajah twice over the last week, and who had bested him both times, was going towards Gaajah while Bile was fully focused on Baruk.

"How can such a pretty girl as her be so inclined to be like her bully of a brother?" he thought while going towards Kaasa, who's full name was KaasaVile Cvina Surfeit, but who went by plain Kaasa by everyone who knew her.

Curiously, she looked nothing like his aunt or uncle; if not for Uncle Kuruk's boasting about how he was "proud" of having created two of the most "beautiful" girls known in the Universe, he would of wondered if Aunt Irka hadn't slept with someone behind his back. Kaasa's hair was a mostly dark auburn color; the four, cream-colored strands, that laced her hair mixed well with that color. The eyes, that looked out from her purple-colored, teardrop-shaped face, were a very enchanting dark blue color. As far as he knew, the rest of her was colored similarly to how her face was. The breeze, that was coming in from the sea, was catching against her blue and green skirt; her matching blouse had a dark green belt around it, which was doing well in keeping it from flying all over the place. Due to her stepping into the ocean's water, he wasn't able to see what type of shoes she was wearing. She wore no makeup, and she was very naked of jewelry.

With her being two thousand and forty-nine years old, she was both younger than Baruk and older than Sudir; from what he and his brothers were able to tell, she seemed to have a normal sibling rivalry with her brothers, and she also seemed to get along "famously" with Dara Dara.

"No!" Eshal's scream derived his attention for a second. When he turned to look at Baruk, he saw that he was in knee-high water; both he and Bile had stopped their game of either going towards or backing away from one another. Baruk, he saw, still had the puppy.

After the two stopped, they eyed one another before movement was done—Baruk, who seemed to think that puppycide was an appropriate activity for that morning, moved the puppy from under his arm then held her steady over the water. This, he knew, caused Bile to about explode.

After seeing this disgusting, and infuriating, sight, he returned his attention to Kaasa, who was now trying to keep a bit of distance between her, he, and Lazeer.

"Daddy! Daaaaaddy!" Hazaar looked in their sister's general direction for a second before turning back to face Gaajah, who was getting into a fighting stance.

"Wimp!" Kaasa laughed.

Baruk, who had just placed the puppy in the water, which was just as cold as could be, was in the process of pushing her under when he was struck in the face by a water-whip that about caused his breath to be taken from him; after releasing the animal, then taking one to two steps back, he was attracted to look in the direction of the south. He watched for only a second as Lhaklar worked to keep Kaasa from going forward to retrieve the puppy, and he watched as Lazeer grabbed the puppy and then carried her out of harm's way, before turning to look at Bile, who was now rushing towards him. From the corner of his eye, he saw Lazeer putting the puppy down; the ill-begotten gift, that was nothing more than a badly bred dog in his eyes, ran off, barking and whimpering all the way, while he and Gaajah faced off against Bile and his brothers.

Kaasa, he saw after having a wave of freezing cold water thrown at him, was running after the animal; he hoped that she ran the creature from the property and he hoped that she'd never return to the ones that she had been "gifted" to.

"That all you got?" Baruk snapped after jumping to avoid the second wave that was thrown in his direction. "You're pathetic if that's all you g—"

A green disc of water rebounded from his chest, then a yellow-colored whip of air sliced through the first two layers of his stomach, then a gust of air forced him up and then out towards the open ocean. He, after finding himself as being in deeper than deep water, swam towards shore then started getting down and nasty towards his opponent.

He threw purple and green water balls, then he shot out a jet of blue water; Bile, quite surprisingly, both caught and then sent his attacks back to him. When he responded by sending an electric current his way, he back-flipped from the water then beckoned for him to come at him—this caused him to be enraged. How dare the little prick beckon for him to come at him, and how dare he be able to withstand his attacks! His daddy had trained him well while Bile, he viewed, hadn't had all that grand a teacher—in his mind, he should be all on top of Bile and then some.

"You haven't got a chance against me!" Gaajah was heard as yelling nearby. "I was trained by my daddy, who's an expert!"

"We were taught by our mother, who's a natural." Lhaklar was heard as saying back.

The green lightning bolt, that came from Gaajah, was grabbed by Lazeer, who sent it sizzling back; for Baruk, this action proved to be close to his undoing. The lightning bolt, after crashing into the ocean, electrocuted him. He screamed, then lost track of his bearings; after coming-to from his brief stunning episode, he found himself as being both away from the water and around six or so feet from the ones that were now concentrating on Gaajah.

Hazaar and Lhaklar, sometime after he became lightning bolt stunned, had made a water spout appear around their lower halves; Gaajah had a golden air funnel around his while Bile was throwing all sorts of discs and water swipes at his funnel's base. Seeing as his friend was outnumbered—while he viewed Gaajah as being tough, and being in his league, he didn't think he was as tough as he, or able to hold himself against more than one opponent like he could—he went to his defense.

Five, red-colored air balls were sent in Bile's direction before a green-colored bolt of lightning was sent in Hazaar's; Lazeer, who was standing all by his lonesome, either hoping to be left alone or hoping to be treated like one of them people who were tagged in after the main duo were done in fighting, screamed after having a ground pike thrown at him while Lhaklar evaded the blast of icicles that he sent at him. After attracting Bile's, and then Hazaar's, attention, he went to war with them.

"Sir," Losal Khrelan said at exactly the right moment where Baruk was going to war with his employer's sons, and when the house's clocks started tolling nine o'clock. "Trobrencus and his family were just seen to the fifth level."

"Oh, is that so?" TazirVile said. After placing the baby bat, that's mother had, for some unknown reason, abandoned it, back in its pouch, and then in its given cage, he left the room that his sick or abandoned bats were kept in then made his way towards a stairwell that'd take him to the house's second level.

The original plan, when it came to the placement of the TrobrencusVile Bloym Surfeit Family, had been for most of the family to be on the fifth level while the rest was to be on the sixth; after remembering that Trobrencus was a big family man, and that he preferred for his family to all be on one level, he had scratched that idea and then replaced it by having them all be on the house's fifth level. Though it took him around ten minutes—staff either stopped him to say hello, or to ask him certain things that pertained to what they were to do either that hour or day, or his mother, who wanted to know where Angel was because she wanted to help her in making that mid-day's meal—he did reach the level and then get on with the task of finding the room that the head of the family, and his wife, had been given to stay in for their stay.

He was glad to see that his mother wanted to help his wife in making that day's planned mid-day meal; before resuming his trek to the house's fifth level, she had said that she, Stepper, and Qeeta all wanted to help her in making the meal and that Angel was needed because they didn't want to make any old thing for lunch. After saying I-Don't-Know to her, he had said for her to track down Homsi and then see if he knew—Angel, before giving the children permission to go outside, and then going to retrieve the puppy for them to play with, had been speaking with Mr. Modulavich; maybe he knew where his wife was, or what she was up to at that hour in the day.

With the house having forty-seven people in it now, his wife couldn't rely on just herself, or Ulision, to make the three meals that were eaten in a single day; she, and Ulision, were now to expect to need and get some help in doing so.

After reaching the fifth level, then starting the process of going down its appointed hallway, he paid special attention to the number of doors that he went by. Trobrencus and his wife had been given #13—rather ironically, this number happened to be Trobrencus's favorite; he almost always made an effort in putting both he and his wife in a room that was #13 on the hallway that it was on. When he found the room that they were in, he stopped then reached forward to knock on its door.

It took a total of two and a half knocks before Bahne answered; she, who looked a little flustered, said nothing after opening the door. Trobrencus, who was clad in a plaid red tuxedo, but plain red shoes, turned after the door was opened then gestured for his wife to come to him. He told her to finish up with the unpacking then he came towards him.

"The planet must be getting ready for a rare snow-storm—if I recall correctly, you didn't pay me and my wife a chamber-visit after we, and our family, arrived for our stay when your Ragamuffin was near-due with Hazaar." the man said after approaching him.

"I'd like to speak with you about what happened between you and my wife four days ago." TazirVile got right down to business.

"Yes—speak away, but don't keep me but so long. I do have other matters to tend to."

"Angel was scared half to death when she came back, what'd you do to make her be so?"

While he didn't know the man but so well—the conversations that they had over the phone were, on average, small ones and he might see around four or five letters from him a year—he did know that he was very proud of himself. He was fast in speaking of his accomplishments, and of his doings with his conquered realms; he was loud in speaking of how he regarded himself with both his and other peoples staff; his speeches on what all was new with his castle, or about how the rooms that the members of his family who had passed away over the years were still intact, were generally long and mildly boring; and he was fast in boasting about his horse breeding program. This personality didn't change now—after asking the man what happened between he and his wife, he started getting the answers that he both wanted and didn't want to get.

The man claimed that he and Angel did a "car dance" before she was allowed entrance to his abode. Her vehicle and his had stayed alongside one another for nearly three hundred yards before a "minor", but very much intended, accident occurred. After hearing that it had been the Zephire Double Delux that Trobrencus had used for this feat, he grew angry—that vehicle, despite being newly purchased, was Trobrencus's favorite; along with saying that it had struck a "special" chord with him on the day that it had been purchased, he drove it whenever he had the chance to do so. While the car was a very dark blue color one wasn't really able to notice it—once the special gasoline oozed from the vehicle's body, and tires, then became ignited, no one took notice of what its color was. All attention was on them flames, which dominated almost all of the vehicle.

The inside of the car might stay a comfortable degree but, on the outside, it was hot—this was the reason to why his wife's car had burn-marks on it! His wife was lucky; her car could well of exploded thanks to them flames or she could well of caught fire, or been burned worse than what she was when she came home.

He, after hearing that his great-great uncle did such a dangerous and scary act on his wife, came close to shouting and then telling the man to vacate his premises and not come back. What happened between Mr. TrobrencusVile Bloym Surfeit and his lovely, and only just returned wife should never of happened!

"I had a point to get across to her, my dear nephew." TrobrencusVile, who had noted his anger, commented. "I wasn't just going to pull up alongside her and say 'come on in, have some tea and cookies while we discuss the reason to why you're here.' "

"You could of just yelled at her. You didn't—"

"Sure and how would that of gotten my point across on what she did wrong in..." TrobrencusVile put a pause to what he was saying to clear his throat. "In my ill-meant anger towards a situation that—ahem—my Disruptor Ray caused? She now knows better than to attack me or my family—think of that as the meaning to what happened between us, Tazir."

When he looked down, he saw that the man had a cane hanging from his belt; no surprise on the man having that on him—but surprising that he wasn't carrying around the one that had the cobra-head as its handle. The wolf, that was on one of the cane's ends, was chrome and was snarling; the teeth of the animal were gold while the eyes were an odd shade of green that looked like a cross between emerald and peridot. After hearing what happened between the man and his wife, then seeing the cane, he decided to keep the man in his sights—his wife's action towards Trobrencus might of been forgiven but, for him, Trobrencus's action towards his wife wasn't worthy of such treatment; his trust in the man was automatically severed after learning what he did.

TazirVile nodded his head, then excused himself, then turned and left the chamber that he had come to pay the owner of a visit. The issue of the man giving his wife a puppy sometime after their "car dance" was done never had a chance to be disclosed; due to how he felt right now, he decided to let the matter drop.

He had only just started down the hallway, and begin the process of trying to calm his seething self down, when he noticed that his daughter was running towards him. At first glance, she was winded, and sweaty, and more than a little freaked out; before asking what was wrong, he grabbed and then pulled her to a stop. He gave her a stern look after doing them two things.

"Walk! Eshal, do we need to have another discussion on why running isn't allowed inside a home?" he said after giving her that stern look.

"D-d-d-d-d—" she sputtered. Eshal was breathing a bit too heavily for his liking, and she was shaking pretty badly too; after noting these two things, he grabbed her in a hug then started leading her down the hallway."

"Whatever you wish to tell me can wait until you've calm down." TazirVile said. "No need to have a—"

"Tazir!" Ashaklar screamed. When he looked up, he saw that she was racing down the hallway towards him; after seeing this sight, he sighed. First his daughter and now his mother, who else?

"Mother," he said. "please don't ru—"

"Get your ass outside now!" Ashaklar yelled. "Bile and his brothers are fighting Baruk and Gaajah!"

She broke her neck to leave the newly-done garden chamber that had recently been rigged up after hearing that her sons were fighting Baruk and Gaajah; once out of the mansion, she transformed into an Eagle then flew off in the direction that the fighting looked to be stemming from.

Jets of purple, green, and black water could be seen; gusts of golden air were able to be seen and felt; and terrific explosions were able to be heard all while she was going towards the area where she thought her sons were in. Her heart was nearly choking her windpipe—up to now, her sons had only had to deal with the physical and verbal aspects of being bullied; now, it seemed, the powers were being dragged out and were being put to use as a way to further bully them. She had only to hear that Baruk and Gaajah were involved to know that they were being bullied—if it wasn't Baruk and Gaajah then it was Selik and Sudir... now that Trobrencus and his family were in the house, would the number of bullies be increased? Would Syamsin join ranks with Selik and Sudir, and would Bohir join ranks with Baruk and Gaajah, or would they be mature in staying away from being involved in the act of bullying her sons?

After hearing a better than terrific explosion, then seeing a gyser of water rise up from the direction that she was flying towards, she started flying faster. As she flew, she couldn't help but feel proud of herself for how she had trained her sons—though some of them had encountered issues with some things, they were all very well trained and it looked like they were putting what they had learned from her to work in subduing the ones that wanted to do them harm.

Angel flapped her wings two to three more times before, finally, coming upon the scene that she both wanted and didn't want to be near; after seeing what was going on before the shallow end of the ocean that was close to where her husband's pier was, she dropped to ground-level then started the process of returning to her true form. Once her true form was gained, she rushed forward to put an end to the fighting.

"Boys!" she yelled after going four yards from where she had stood to change from the form that she had taken on to that of what she had been born as having.

He saw her and he saw her well; regardless of seeing her, and knowing that he should stop what he was doing and then go to her, he kept fighting Gaajah and trying to injure Baruk enough to tip the scales in Bile's favor.

Bile was firing sonic blasts and combination attacks of water and lightning at Baruk, who was starting to back down from the onslaught. Baruk had fought Hazaar hard but Hazaar had gotten the better of him by throwing some fire rings at him—either Baruk didn't know how to evade or do this move; he had neither moved or tried to grab and then return them. Them fire rings had caused the kid to scream, and then drop to his knees; Baruk had looked reluctant to fight Hazaar for a few seconds after regaining his footing under him before returning to the game that he had started by trying to drown the puppy that he and his siblings had been playing with. Hazaar had also thrown a flaming rope around Baruk, which had done wonders in burning his stomach, chest, and back; the rope had only just been released from Baruk's body when Gaajah swooped in for "the rescue".

Hazaar, at the time of Gaajah's assault, had been in around two inches of water; Gaajah had made two, purple-colored ocean waves rise up before shooting them in his direction. Hazaar, along with being struck by them two waves, had also been attacked by a yellow lightning bolt, which had done wonders in knocking him from the fight. At present, he was lying, face-down, on the rocky shore.

Gaajah, along with having him to worry about, was also facing off against Lhaklar, who was madder than a sumabitch! Lhaklar was throwing all that he had learned in Gaajah's direction while he was just using his Acidic powers on him. Judging from what he was able to see, Gaajah was faltering and fast.

While fighting Gaajah, and trying to make Baruk become injured enough to either back off or fall to Bile's fury, he thought back to what happened on the night of the twenty-ninth and then thirtieth. While most of them two days had been somewhat pleasant, the night had been confusing and downright frightening; at around midnight on the first night, he had started hearing a voice coming from his closet, while, on the following night, at around the same time, he had seen someone as coming out from his closet.

In his eye and mind, his bedroom was sacred to him. Along with being the first room that he was able to call fully his, it was his private place. He could go to it, and do as he merry well pleased in it, and think and do things without anyone coming up to either ask him what he was doing or berating him for his private-done activities. He was now terrified of his room; nowadays, after waking up, he threw what he wanted to wear on, then did his bathroom routine, then jumped back into bed—only after ma or Bile came up to see what he was doing, and why he was holding up breakfast, did he leave his bed and then his room. So far, it was only his father who was questioning him on what was wrong with him; his brothers, and his mother, had yet to ask him what was wrong or question the reason to why he refused to leave his room unless someone was there to "ensure that the boogeyman wasn't going to come and get him".

On the first night, just before the voice was heard, he, who hadn't been able to go to sleep, had been thinking about the list of items that he was hoping to give to his mother at the start of the month; the idea of adding a plane model, or a magazine or two that was about planes or boats, to that list had just come to him when the voice started being heard. It had been faint, and he had waved it off by thinking that it was the air that was coming from the AC vents—after the voice got stronger, and louder, he stopped thinking it as that. With the voice coming in louder, and stronger, and with his now knowing that it wasn't coming from the AC vents, he had sat up and then pulled his legs up to his chin; just one word had been said, and it had been said over and over again—Bruuuuder... Bruuuuder... Bruuuder... it had been enough to make the hair on his groin stand on end, and it had been enough to make him shiver and shake too.

The following morning, he had come under the belief that his ears were just playing tricks on him—that or his sleep-deprived self was making him hear what he had, or that Sudir or Selik were by his room, talking and trying to deliberately scare him. He had been calmed by this, and he had gone by his way for all of that day before, finally, going to bed for the evening; the event that happened on that night had plum scared the socks from his feet!

The word "bruder" had been heard on and off from 10 to 12 before, at around 12:15, the hand was seen as grabbing the frame of his closet door; he, who had, yet again, been unable to go to sleep, had started thinking up things that'd both calm his frightened self down and explain what was going on in his room. That hand, which boasted a set of badly cracked, dark gray fingernails, had remained on the frame of that door for around a minute to two minutes before making the move to open the near-closed door—the door had been slid to being all the way open, then nothing happened for the longest of time, then the outline of a body was seen as coming out from the dark space that was beyond it. His heart, which had been slamming in his chest at the time of the hand being seen, had about stopped beating after the figure stepped out from his closet.

A sliver of moonlight had caught on the figure for only a second, which had verified it being in his room, before the figure started moving towards him. The movement of the figure had been slow, and near-mechanical at first before picking up to being like normal—at the time that the figure reached to within a foot of him, he had been close to screaming and then calling for his mother.

"It's nothing! Tee hee; my tired mind is seeing things. No boogeyman in my room. No boogeyman in my closet. No boogeyman to—" he had started thinking after the figure stopped before his bed. His mind had about exploded after the figure, who had been wearing the remnants of a blue hoodie, and something akin to khakis, and heavy-duty boots, and a slew of chains either around his neck or crossing over his shoulders and chest, spoke to him.

"I was told tha-k-t I had a family—a family that had four sons, who were to be my forever bruders." he had said. "And ye-k-t, when I show up to be apar-k-t of that family, they're gone. Mum runs away from me, and won-k-t tell me why, or where you are all a-k-t, and—"

"Who are you?" he had moaned. "Who the hell are you!"

"Your bru—"

A pop had happened, then a gust of air was felt as blowing towards him; he, who had been too scared to emit any sort of sound, much less scream for one of his family to come rescue him from what he was experiencing, had dived under his blankets—he had stayed under them until the following morning, and the only reason to why he left them was to get dressed and then do his morning routine in the bathroom that was adjacent his bedroom. Once that routine was done, he dove back under his blankets and then waited until a knock was heard on his door and then his mother came in, asking him what he was doing and why he was keeping everyone waiting for breakfast. Since he hadn't had an explanation for what he had experienced, and since he didn't know how to disclose it to anyone, he was just not speaking about it; but he was keeping his mother close and, even more, his closet shut and then "locked".

The two following nights, regardless of that door being locked, he still thought that he heard the figure, whoever the hell he was, calling out to him... the thought of his hearing the door being "jingled", or tapped on, was occurring too.

If it ever got out about what he saw, he was quite sure that everyone would laugh and then say that he had had a dream during them two nights; with his being fully awake, and with his finding his bedding as being wet with piss the morning following them two nights, he was very sure that what he had seen, and experienced, was real.

His mother, his brothers, and the puppy were all that gave him comfort now; the only reason to why he was away from his mother's ever-watchful gaze, and loving eye, was the puppy—the desire in wanting to play with her had overwritten his fear of the figure that he had seen on the night of the twenty-ninth and thirtieth.

"Lazeer... Look out!"

Lhaklar's yell was loud; his attention was automatically attracted in his direction before being derived in the direction that Gaajah was in. The blast of golden air, that Lhaklar had cast at Gaajah but that Gaajah had grabbed and then "casually" thrown in his direction, was avoided; he was no more out of harm's way before dropping to one knee and then starting the process of making some rings roll down his arms. Black smoke billowed from his nose holes; his body quivered as he concentrated on keeping the rings stationary on his arms; and his vision grew slightly blurry before he got up and then shot his arms out.

Gaajah, who had been in the direct line of fire, screamed after four of his black fire rings struck him; Baruk, who had been sent two of his created fire rings, stepped out of the way right after seeing them as coming for him.

Baruk, who looked most like his daddy—his ears, which were a golden color, and had black, Tiger-like stripes on them, went only half the length of his shoulders; the left side of his head and body was a blood red color while the other half of his body was an imperial red color; and his eyes were a fiery red color, and had small, black pupils in their centers—, gave his seemingly tired looking body a slight shudder before jabbing his fists at the ground. He, who stood six foot, three inches, and who's burly body looked very identical to his father's own, gave him a hell of a menacing look before propelling himself at him.

He wasted little time in readying a purple acid ball; once the ball of acid was done in being formed, he twirled then threw it in the direction of the one who meant him harm. Baruk's ground pillar exploded after his acid ball struck it; the pillar had only just broken up, and Baruk had only just started falling to the ground, when an ear-piercing scream was heard—after throwing the first acid ball, he had readied and then thrown another of the same color. This ball, when it struck Baruk's side, caused a shower of yellow sparks to fly from Baruk.

He was just emitting a cheer, and giving a little dance, when Baruk seized his chance in taking him out. The fire ball was purple in color, and was quite big; when it struck him, he felt the flesh on his left shoulder and arm burn. He screamed for just a second before the following attack—a blue-colored lightning ball, that had a ring of water around it—struck him. Once the second attack struck him, he fell into the void of sleep that he didn't want to be in.

He dropped to his side, then he did two jerks, and a single moan, before going still and quiet.

"Lazeer!"

Bile stopped doing what he was doing then rushed past Baruk; he could care less about the fucker right now—his baby brother, who had just been very viciously attacked, was the only thing on his mind.

His injuries, to some, were minor; to him, they were anything but that. His chest, which had a seven-inch long gash on it, was throbbing and causing him all sorts of grief while his groin, which had a four and a half inch long gash on it, was making all sorts of hideous ideas come to his mind. He had come off lucky; Baruk could well of sliced his dick off if he hadn't jumped back to avoid the ground pike that he had made shoot up from between his feet.

"Bile, check Hazaar and Lazeer! I have Baruk and Gaajah." Lhaklar, who was still fiercely locked in battle with Gaajah, who now looked about ready to throw in the towel, yelled.

Bile was only able to do half of what he told him to do; Lazeer was checked, then Baruk came in to prevent him from going anywhere near Hazaar—this, in itself, infuriated him.

Baruk, like Bile, was carting around a few injuries that'd take some time to heal. His shoulders were burned, and he had some cuts to his stomach, and his right arm had a long cut on it; Gaajah's injuries, rather surprisingly, were more extreme and were more numerous.

His stomach had more then three deep scratches on it; his arms were sporting a few, second and third degree burns on them; his chest had two burn marks on it; and there was a two-inch long gash on his right cheek. Personally speaking, after seeing what he had just seen, and after going through what he was still going through, he was more than willing to add more to that list of injuries.

A poorly constructed acid ball, followed by a perfectly formed lightning bolt, took Baruk out while it took him a few seconds to finish the deal with Gaajah; unlike Baruk and Gaajah, he had been pacing himself and watching his footing and keeping the usage on his strengths down until speed, agility, and muscle was noted as needing to be used—Baruk and Gaajah hadn't been doing this, which was why they weren't holding up as well as they probably thought they would.

His mother had always told him to keep his head on straight during a fight and he was doing his very best in doing that. He bet that she, who was just now reaching to within arm's reach of him, was proud of him for his keeping himself in-check. Despite keeping himself in-check, he had a few injuries on himself—his chest had two, deep gashes on it, and his back had a gash on it that was close to being nine inches long, and his inner right thigh was badly burned, and one of his fingers was broken. Even though he was in pain, and was having a time in walking—the burn to his thigh was just not something one could have without experiencing some issues in walking correctly—, he was continuing with the fight that was still being thrown at him.

"Come on!" Gaajah yelled. But did that yell have a fear quality to it? He couldn't be certain but he did think that it had, which made him come close to laughing. "Come on, Weakie! Show me what you g—"

With the kid having grabbed and then "casually" thrown his attack at Lazeer, he was close to wanting to kill him—to him, what Gaajah did in doing that was cowardice. One didn't fire at another unless that person was fully focused or knew what was coming at them—Lazeer had looked to only be half-there at the time of the attack being grabbed and then sent at him.

Gaajah, who looked to be breathing a little on the heavy side, was on a tall, white funnel of air; after seeing him as throwing an electric charge at Bile, then at both of his fallen brothers, he jabbed his hands at the ground then felt the vibration of his being propelled up to his foe's level. After reaching the height that Gaajah was in, he saw that his father, grandfather, and uncle were rushing towards him; seeing as he best finish what was started, he sent the whole of his tornado of rocks and water towards Gaajah, who shrieked after it struck him. A very unsteady stream of acid finished the kid off—while Gaajah plummeted to the ground, then collided and then bounced twice after coming in contact with the ground, he used a form of his Elemental Air powers to cushion his fall; after doing a half run after finishing his "fall" from where his ground tornado's height was, he rushed to where Hazaar was.

Uncle Kuruk was grabbing and then shouting at Baruk while Granddad Duru was scoffing while going to retrieve Gaajah, who had yet to get to his feet; his parents, on the other hand, were coming towards him and Bile. His mother, who looked to want to be with all of them, stopped long enough to decide who to go to first before making the decision to come towards him; his father, meanwhile, had rushed over and then started checking on Bile and Lazeer, the latter who had just woken up and given the first signs of what his injuries were causing him to go through.

After reaching Hazaar's side, then righting him to lying on his back, he checked him for a pulse; it took him just two seconds to sigh—his brother was just unconscious. He was alive. Injured but alive, thank the Gods.


	27. Chapter 27

"I was warned... On the day that Angel was received as a visitor to my abode, I was warned about what was going on here... and the sad part is that I honestly didn't want to believe any of what I was told." TrobrencusVile said while giving his head a sad shake.

"All of what you've been told is what we were told—Gaajah, Baruk, and Kaasa came upon Bile, who was trying to put the puppy that you gave to Angel under the water. That was what caused their fight." Cyla reiterated what she had said earlier.

"That's a damn lie!" Bile exploded. His chair made a sound as he shot up from it; his mother was fast in both pulling the chair back to where it was suppose to be and in placing her hand on his arm. He was swiftly pulled back to his chair after it was back to being where it was suppose to be. "Me, my brothers, and Eshal were playing with the puppy—none of us were trying to hurt her, or were thinking about hurting her."

"After Bile over-threw the ball, and she didn't come back after going off to retrieve it, we went to see where she was and what she was doing." Hazaar said.

"It was Baruk who had the puppy, and who was trying to put her in the wa—" Lazeer started to say.

"No! No, that's not what happened!" Kaasa cried. After saying what she did, she heaved in a breath then shot up from her chair; she ran right over to her father then she buried her face into his black tunic top. The sound of her sobbing was heard a second to two seconds later. "L-lies! All lies, daddy!"

"Eshal ran to get her father when she saw that Bile was—"

"What my brothers said is true." Eshal said, effectively cutting Gaajah off. "I ran to get daddy after seeing that Baruk was about to put the puppy in the water—it did look like he was about to drown her. Before coming upon Baruk, Gaajah, and Kaasa, we were doing nothing more than playing with her."

The idea of his doing as Trobrencus had in giving his head a sad shake came to his mind effortlessly; with the way things were going, he was almost willing to do that and issue out a sigh. He didn't know if he should be irked, or saddened, or just plain annoyed over yet another meal heading in the way that the mass majority that had been made and then placed on the table over the last two-plus weeks had—lunch, on that January 2 afternoon, was a little late in being served; most everyone who had taken to sit at the table had made a plate and then simply poked at its contents or stared at it after the subject on what happened between Bile and his brothers, and Baruk, Gaajah, and Kaasa, was brought up.

Despite what happened earlier, his wife had still gotten the help that had been promised to her; his mother, Qeeta, and, quite surprisingly, Bahne had all come down at around noon to help in getting everything made and then cooked. Once the food was ready, and was on a tray, or in a dish, one of them had given the signal that he, Trobrencus, and Efagti had been "briefed" on. Stepper, who had been asked to look after Defe, who had come down with a sudden nose bleed and fever, hadn't been able to help the women in making the meal or in taking everything to the table—no one was putting the blame on him or on the women for the meal being so late in being served to the house's inhabitants.

The emotion of being annoyed was purely caused by the fact of what happened earlier that day being brought up at meal-time while the emotion of being saddened was caused by the children being, once again, dissuaded from eating what they had on their plates. He was irked over the fact of the effort to make the food, and the money that was spent to get the food with, was being wasted—he, once again, found himself as wondering if all of the table's adult members had made the decision to go from being an adult to a child; in his mind, food was meant to be cooked and then eaten, and people were suppose to shut up during the process in taking all that been placed on the table down.

"Been nearly four hours since what happened by the pier happened." he thought while trying to gain the want in downing what was on his plate.

The kids, after being inspected by either a calm adult or by one that was madder than you-know-what, had been collected and then marched to the house almost immediately after their fight came to a close. After getting inside, a super long line had formed in the hallway that the house's medical chamber was on; with the exception of the kids, who had either been too injured, or fatigued, or embarrassed to throw a squawk, just about everyone who had been in that line had been fussing and fighting, and pointing fingers, and throwing accusations. Though it had taken a short while before they reached the room that they needed to go to, all of his sons' injuries had been tended.

Bile was wearing a wrap of bandaging around his chest—the medical table had only been able to heal half of that area's present gash, which had been seven-inches long. The four and a half inch long gash, that was on his adopted son's groin, hadn't been able to be healed in any degree; it had been treated medically, then given a few stitches, before having a layer of bandaging placed over it. The two, deep gashes, that were on Lhaklar's chest, and the near-nine inch long gash, that was on his back, hadn't been able to be healed either—like Bile, he was wearing a wrap of bandaging around his top half. The table, after halfway healing the nasty, second degree burn, that was on Lhaklar's inner right thigh, had slapped a type of lotion to the injury before placing a moist bandage around it. Lhaklar's broken finger had been the only one of his injuries to be fully healed.

He had seen the likes of the injuries that his two, older sons had on them several times in his life; he had hoped to never see his sons have or receive something like them and, sadly, it looked like that hope was all for nothing. He and his wife were keeping a good eye on the two—by the Gods' wills, no infections shall set in on them on their watch!

Hazaar, along with being knocked out cold, had been found as having a three-inch long gash to his forehead; his wrist had sported a rather nasty cut on it and his ankle had also been very badly sprained. The medical table had healed everything but the facial gash, which had refused to close up or go away. Lazeer, while also being knocked out cold, had sustained some pretty gruesome injuries on himself too. One of the worst burns that he had ever seen had been present on his left arm and shoulder—the table had managed to heal it so it was a first degree burn instead of a third—, and a portion of his hair had been burned off—while the table hadn't been able to heal that his wife had been able to do something to make it reappear on their son's head. Lazeer, despite still being a little on the too quiet side, was fine now, thank the Gods.

"Not sure if I should be embarrassed or infuriated over Trobrencus and his family not being allowed to do the full unpacking thing before finding themselves as being bit by the curiosity bug." he thought while trying to take the grilled beef on rye bread sandwich up from his plate.

Most of the TrobrencusVile Bloym Surfeit family had been told by the head of their family to stay on the level that they were on; Trobrencus, after giving out that order, had come downstairs to see what all the ruckus was about. He had no more seen all the fighting, and the injured boys, before stopping and then giving his head a fierce shake. While trying to get everyone to calm down, and shut up for five minutes, he hadn't been able to do much of anything—everyone had just been too enthused in either clawing or chewing at another's throat.

Before taking a rather confused Hazaar, who hadn't known where he was or who he was at the time, into the house, Kaasa had been seen as trying to pull the sneak-routine in blending in with everyone—she kept claiming that she had been by one of the backyard's many trees at the time of Baruk and Gaajah's fight with his sons.

Angel, before the fight started, had gone out with the kids; she claimed that they had been about to play a game of fetch with the puppy, who's whereabouts, at the moment, were unknown.

"Why'd you give her one of your puppies anyways?" ShaamVile asked his uncle.

"After hearing what was going on here, figured it was the appropriate thing to do—she, and her sons, are under a lot of stress and I saw the puppy as being given to her as something to drop that stress." TrobrencusVile replied.

"While the intention was good you did wrong in doing that." Cyla said. "Angel has no experience in owning dogs, and neither do her sons and Eshal. None of them can be trusted with having a d—"

"Silence!" TazirVile shouted. Cyla's action in whirling at him was so fast that her red, wavy hair flew from one shoulder to the next. "I can vouch for my wife and children on how they were going by that puppy. That puppy was being cared for well, and she was under no threat."

"And yet here we are, discussing what happened when my son, and two of my grandchildren, came upon Bile trying to hurt her." Cyla's eyes had a sad look to them while her face was quite normal in appearance.

"Do I need to show everyone a memory of what happened?" Lhaklar asked. "My memory of what happened is the same as my brother's—Bile wouldn't of harmed a hair on that puppy's body."

"Your memories are tampered so there's no reason—"

"Fuck you man, my memories have _never_ been tampered with!" Lhaklar yelled at his grandfather, who responded by giving him one of the meanest, and angriest, glares that he had ever seen.

Qeeta looked at Kaasa, who's head was still burried in her father's tunic top, and who was still "bawling" her eyes out. She had heard her mother and stepfather's children doing the fake crying thing several times; she knew what a fake cry was and she also knew that Kaasa was doing a very good job on trying to make her ruse seem legit when it really wasn't. Why Kuruk was doing nothing but patting the girl, telling her that it was alright, was beyond her—with the man having had eight children, he should know when a cry was fake. Went double for Irka, who seemed to also be believing Kaasa's put-on act.

She didn't think that Bile, or his brothers, or Eshal had done anything wrong with the puppy, or had been intending to hurt her—while she was a little nervous about their having the animal she had a feeling that they were doing well. At the time of her noticing them as being in the backyard, she had been inside, getting ready to ascend one of the house's many staircases with a basket of clothes—a ball had been in their possession, and the puppy had been nearby, but they hadn't looked to be trying to hurt her; she had watched as they threw the ball, and then waited for the puppy to return, before going on to ascend the staircase that she had stopped before.

Baruk, Kaasa, and Gaajah had left the house some minutes before Bile and his brothers, and Eshal, had; if she recalled correctly, they had gone towards the beach right after leaving the house. With her knowing this, and with her thinking that they could well of been going towards the beach to wait it out until either one of the other children, or the puppy, came by so they could start some sort of trouble, she believed what Bile and his brothers, and Eshall, were saying.

She had seen all four of Angel's sons interacting with their mother's Sekhems, and she had also seen them feed and give them water too so she didn't think they were completely oblivious in knowing how to care for or handle themselves around domestic pets.

Qeeta was about to say something on Kaasa's act of putting on a front by fake crying when, suddenly, Bahne moved in her chair then spoke about it.

"Kuruk, Irka, I'm surprised that you haven't told your daughter to can the crying." she said in her normal, near whisper-like voice. KurukVile, regardless of her voice being so faint and whisper-like, turned then looked at her. "I can detect that falsity even from where I sit."

"Kaasa is upset for a reason—after seeing what she did, she can cry all she wants to." KurukVile replied.

"It's untrue crying—a pull-on, Kuruk. Stage crying, in other words." Bahne said.

"Seems real to me." KurukVile replied.

"You give me a good surprise, Bahne. You let your husband be so free in handing off puppies that're bred on your property to people that—"

"I stand by my husband's side on his giving Angel that puppy, Cyla." Bahne said. Despite her voice-type being what it was, they were all able to hear that she was both angry and offended by Cyla's words. "I'm not going to tell him to not do something that he thinks is beneficial to the family. He told me all of what Angel told him—I stand by his decision in giving her that puppy."

"He told y... What all did this girl tell you?" DuruVile demanded to know. He flashed his anger-filled eyes at Angel for only a second before training them down the table. At Trobrencus and his wife.

The woman was a rather beautiful one, which seemed strange considering the fact that she was married to a man who looked so much like a Zombie, and who had such a foul odor to himself to boot. The hair, that was on her head, was a creamy-blonde color; along with being half-curled, it flowed down to the middle of her back. Her skin was both very feminine and darkly tanned. The eyes, that were in her heart-shaped face, were a solid blue color and were very bright; the small, trim nose, and the trim chin, looked to fit her face well while her large, full lips didn't. Along with having a height of five foot, five inches, she had a petite, hourglass-shaped body build—her breasts, which were large, and her round hips were evidence enough to show that she had given birth to more than four children.

She was wearing a very purple outfit; the blouse was ruched, and was made of silk, while the skirt had a slit going down its right side. The purple, low-heeled shoes, that she had been wearing earlier, were still on her feet. The necklace, that was hanging down from around her neck, had purple gems on it that were shaped almost like Peacock feathers. If they had to make any guesses, the 18kt ring, that had a yellow-gold band on it that was holding a large, rose-shaped purple diamond in its center, was what she had been given on her wedding day.

While speaking to Cyla, and then to Irka, she tapped her long, purple-colored fingernails on the table. Like with her nails, she had purple lipstick and eye-shadow on her face—the woman, it seemed, had gone very out of her way to wear the color purple that day.

"You have absolutely no right in running your mouth on what goes on in this house!" Irka said after hearing all of what her granddaughter had told Trobrencus. She shook her head; her lips were pursed angrily. "No right at all, Angel."

"I live here, if you haven't noticed. I have all right when it comes to my home and to my and my children's well-beings." Angel replied.

"I take it that you go around, blabbing all that you see or hear about in other people's residences, as well, Angel?" KurukVile asked his granddaughter. "That was very disrespectful."

"We've been trying to help you and all you've been doing is shunning us. All that we've been telling and trying to get you to do is benign, Angel. If you keep letting the boys do as they are, they're going to walk all over you; if you keep letting them have your breast milk, they'll continue to be dependent on you; if you continue to let them read and look at the filth that they have in their rooms, they're going to turn into filth. You need to stop letting all of that hap—"

"Now you just wait a darn tootin' second here." TrobrencusVile said. Irka was fast in looking at him. "From what I've heard, she and they haven't been doing any disrespectful actions in this house. However, with what I've witnessed in the hours that me and mine have been here, you, and Duru and Cyla, are being what you're trying to pin on her." he let his words set-in on the people that he had just referenced before going on. "Irka, let me ask you something. When you have guests coming over, or staying for a specific amount of time, do you let them encroach on what you're doing in your life or with the mothering of your kids?"

"Hell no!" Irka exclaimed. "Not only would no one have the guts to do that but I'm an established and very experienced mother. Angel, on the other hand, is not. She—"

"Seems pretty experienced to me." Bahne said. "Four sons and an adopted daughter—she practically raised her sons on her own."

"And she did it wrong. Look at them!" Cyla screamed. She stood up then started pointing at Angel's sons. "They wear clothing that's ripped or torn up; when they were brought home, they were smoking; they read bad magazines, and build childish models; they still nurse from their mother, and they follow her around like a shad—"

"Putting myself in their perspective, I'd shadow my mother around if any of this shit was going on in the home that I was either being raised in, was raised in, or was brought back to after being gone from it for a period of time." TrivitVile said.

The one who had just spoken looked like a perfect combination of his parents; his face was heart-shaped, like his mother's, but it had a lot of his father's features in it. The puke-yellow trails, or markings, that were under his eyes; the red, flake-like patches of skin that were on both of his cheeks, on his neck, and on both of his arms; and his eyes had all come from his father. His hair, which was long, and creamy-colored, had, without a doubt, come from his mother. Like his father, he had a bi-colored head and, they presumed, body—his left side was red while his other side was purple. His body, while lean, was strong in appearance; he stood six foot, two inches tall.

This man, who Lazeer had placed a spell on just before the fighting in the Green River, Wyoming Food Lion parking lot concluded, was wearing a dark green work shirt and formal pants; the shoes, that were on his feet, were black.

From what they had been able to note of the guy, he seemed to be both shy and a little loose around the ones who were the opposite gender—they had caught him "flirting", or trying to flirt with the hired help and with a few of the house's mature women too.

"Which of your sons is Hazaar, Angel?" TrobrencusVile asked.

"Third one down the table from me." Angel replied.

"Who among us was responsible for loping his hair off again?"

"Selik." Hazaar replied. "Sudir held me down so he could do it."

"My grandfather says that he doesn't like his hair. I was only doing what I thought he'd want." Sudir said in a pitiful, I'm-Innocent, fashion.

"You and your grandfather ever take into consideration that he is his own person and that he has a right in doing whatever he wishes with his hair?" TrobrencusVile asked the youngster. "Who at the table is your grandfather again?"

"That would be I and, yes, I do wish that Hazaar, or his father, would get rid of his hair." DuruVile said. He and Trobrencus locked eyes after this was said; the room was very quiet for all of two minutes before anyone spoke again.

"That so. Angel, may I ask to see your son for a second please." TrobrencusVile asked after tearing his gaze from the one who was, technically, his great-nephew.

At the time of the youngster's birth, he remembered that the house had been in a big upheaval—though honored to be allowed to witness Hazaar's birth, he and his had wondered what was going on with their family and why they were fussing and fighting among themselves when the occasion that they had been called to witness was suppose to be a happy and fight-less one.

Angel, even while being very heavily pregnant with the upcoming baby, had been glad to receive them and she had also tried her best to make their stay be a pleasant one; just about everyone who had come to witness the birth of her unborn baby had been trying to thwart her attempts in doing that, and had also been trying to tell Eshal, Bile, and Lhaklar that they couldn't be in the room when their new sibling was born and that they couldn't see their new sibling until after all of the adults had a chance to do so. Duru and Cyla had been the loudest of that party while Kuruk and Irka had been the next loudest; Shaam had been mostly neutral and quiet while Dara Dara and Triskull had either been too quiet or too distancy for his liking. Vile... well, he had just been very confrontational and very against his daughter having his uncle's baby; Rita and Rito had either been imitating their father or had agreed with him while Lord Zedd had been mostly neutral on the subject.

Back then, the reason for their being in the house had been to see a new Surfeit be born; the current reason to why they were in the house was to see and get to know Angel's sons and to get reacquainted with Angel. Before giving the order for his family to get their shit together, and then teleport to Moas, he had warned them about what they might see after being admitted to Tazir's place—that warning was being more than validated; the house, that Angel and her sons had recently been relocated to, was a madhouse.

The child that he asked to see had to be prompted from his chair and then to move down the table; seeing as he was so nervous, he rounded his side of the table then met him half-way. He understood the child's nervousness—he, TrobrencusVile Bloym Surfeit, was an unknown to him; he didn't know if he was intending to hurt him, or call him out on what he was wearing or doing, or join the others in being immature. After he and the boy stopped coming towards one another, he took him gently by his shoulder then turned him—he peered at the hair that he had on the nape of the back of his head for around two to three minutes before giving him his signal to return to his side of the table.

He and the boy went back to their respective chairs; Hazaar, like he, did nothing but sit then stare at his food. It took him a decent stretch of time before clearing his throat then addressing the one who seemed to have it out for both the boy and his hair.

"What's the issue you have with his hair, Duru?" TrobrencusVile finally asked. When no answer came, he turned his head then looked at his nephew's son. "I'm trying to figure out why you have something against Hazaar's hair and am coming very short of an answer—from what I was able to see, his hair looks clean, and well-tended, and healthy."

"With his having no other hair on his head, that simple tail looks ridiculous." DuruVile answered after a long, awkward silence fell over the table. Another silent spell fell over the table before TrobrencusVile was noticed as getting up and then coming towards him. DuruVile, who felt himself threatened, stood after seeing this; when he and the man were before one another, he glared at him.

"Shaam, you teach this boy of yours to stand up against his elders?" TrobrencusVile said after receiving his great-nephew's glare.

"No. Taught him to respect his elders—seems that with age, and with my being in Limbo, he got to thinking that he can up and be disrespectful of anyone who's both older and younger than he." ShaamVile answered.

"Should reteach him his manner lessons, Nephew." TrobrencusVile said. After saying this, he addressed his nephew's son. "I see nor have any issues with Hazaar's hair and I take offense in your words about his hair. If you haven't noticed, Duru, I have my hair set in a similar fashion to his."

"Your hair and his is different. You have a full head of hair while he doesn't—he just has that silly tail sticking out from the nape of the back of his head." DuruVile answered.

"Judging by the look that's present in your eyes, I think there's something else going on for you to not like how his hair's set." TrobrencusVile said. "Both my son and I have long hair—I have a long strand in the back, that's braided to boot, and Trivit keeps his plain long—, or have you not noticed that?"

"I've noticed." DuruVile replied.

"Regardless of the gender, having hair of any length for a being that is born with it is totally up to the person who has that hair." TrobrencusVile said. After saying this, he turned then went back to his chair. After sitting, he was quiet for around thirty seconds before deciding to discuss another subject. One, of which, he thought was more important than his great-nephew's dislike of one in the male gender having long hair. "I suppose that no one's going to fess up to what happened to the pup that I gave to Angel?"

According to the Canine Breeder's Association, the one who bred a dog, then gave the puppies away, had right in knowing where them puppies were and what was going on with them—either conversation via a phone or by letter had to be done for the week following them puppies being given away; the week following, the breeder of them puppies was no longer allowed to interfere with what went on or happened to the animals that he bred and then gave away. With it being only four days since the puppy had been taken from the kennel and then plopped in Angel's arms, Trobrencus had all right in asking about where the puppy was or what happened to it.

TazirVile, after the question on the puppy was asked, sat back in his chair; a quieter than quiet silence fell over the room... it stayed in the room for the longest of time before the sound of someone clearing her throat was heard.

Eshal, Bile, Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer looked to be waiting for an answer on what happened to the animal that they had been treating well for the last four days; his wife looked to be half-patiently waiting for an answer; while everyone else was just doing the blank staring thing at their plates.

The question looked to be about to be asked again when the one who had cleared her throat pushed herself away from her father; Kuruk and Irka bore looks of deep surprise when their daughter spoke on what happened with the animal.

"I-I chased her." Kaasa admitted. "She was very fast, and I wasn't able to catch her... she disappeared behind some hedges."

"Which ones? Where were they and what were they before?" Angel asked.

"In the side-portion of the yard—there were a lot of them, and they were around a bunch of trees." Kaasa replied.

"Not them." TazirVile groaned before placing his hand over his eyes. Some three thousand years ago, a side-portion of the yard that was beside the house had been prepared for a fruit tree orchard; his gardeners, after planting a whole slew of apple, pear, orange, and peach trees, had placed a bunch of hedges around them—the claim, back then, had been that the hedges would keep the animals that'd want to eat the trees' fruit out. While the hedges had done wonders in keeping the fruit-eating animals out they had attracted a lot of snakes—no one could go into the orchard without wearing boots or gloves thanks to the area being so snake-filled.

While the record was high for his staff having to go to the hospital after getting bit by one of the snakes that moved about the grounds of the orchard he had only been bit once. One fine afternoon, he had taken Angel to the orchard for a spot of romance—after reaching up to take an apple from one of the trees, he had been bit. He, and the snake responsible for biting him, had taken a ride to the nearby hospital five to ten minutes later. Angel, after that event occurred, hadn't been allowed to go within a foot of the orchard; this went double for their sons, which, at the time of his one bite being received, had numbered two.

If his niece was telling the truth, and that puppy had, indeed, gone into the orchard, she was a goner.

"Thank you, Kaasa." Angel said. She said nothing more for a few seconds before saying, "Well, if she's in there then I guess I should go and get her."

TazirVile reacted to this by slapping his hand on the table; everyone who was in the room jumped afterwards. His wife, and some of the other women at the table, turned to look at him after jumping.

"Tazzy, what—"

"I and my brother will go into the orchard to find the puppy," TazirVile said. He gave his wife a hard stare before dropping his gaze. "There's no way in hell that I'm letting you go behind them hedges, or into that orchard."

"Taz, I'll be fine." Angel said. "I'll wear your boots and—"

"The hell you will!" TazirVile exclaimed. "You remember that bite I got after putting my hand up in one of them trees? Snakes are running all over that orchard, Angel!"

"Slithering," Bile said in mild correction. TazirVile responded by looking past his wife; he gave his adopted son a long look. "Snakes slither—they don't have legs to run on."

"And let's be glad for that," Lazeer said before bringing up a moment that happened in his and his brothers' pasts. "Bile, you remember the time when you came home with that nice, long, green snake in your pocket?"

"Ma asked what I was hiding; when I started, and then continued to stutter and stammer, she reached into one of my pants pockets. Thought my ears were going to explode, or start bleeding, after she started screaming when she had the thing in her hand." the event was no more spoken of before he and his brothers started laughing.

"You are now required to empty your pockets before entering this abode." TazirVile said to Bile. What he said prompted his sons to laugh again.

"Back to the puppy—Tazir, I'll be fine. No snakes will bother me." Angel said.

"Angel—"

"Whether you like it or not, I'm going to find that puppy." Angel said, effectively silencing the man. After saying this, she turned to speak to Trobrencus. "Trob, if I find and then return home with her, what do you wish for me to do with her? Bring her to you or—"

"Keep her." TrobrencusVile was fast in saying. "She belongs to you and your kids now."

"Of the puppies that were born during our absence, which of them did you give to her? Who's litter?" Bahne asked her husband.

"One from Jhopa's litter—Iruhlezer is the suspected sire." TrobrencusVile replied.

"We were talking the other day about P'poa's one pup—have you decided on what you're planning on doing with her yet?" Bahne asked.

"Since P'poa belonged to Celobra, I can't make that decision." TrobrencusVile replied. Before his wife could respond to what he had just said, he turned then looked at her. "Before you start on how I made the decision to give one of Bohir's dog's puppies away, and on how I've decided to leave the decision on whether we keep or don't keep the lone-surviving pup by P'poa to Celobra, let me remind you that Bohir's not old enough to make decisions on what dogs we keep or don't keep and that, at present, we have more than enough dogs walking the space that we live in."

"What breed was Jhopa again?" ShaamVile asked his uncle.

"Speckled Picardy, as we call them." TrobrencusVile replied. "The suspected sire of her litter is a Moozed Fousk."

"You gave away a puppy, that came from two fine breeds, for free?" ShaamVile seemed rather shocked. "You bought Celobra and Bohir them two dogs last year, how much did you spend on them?"

"Two grand, each." TrobrencusVile replied.

"You gave Angel a puppy worth two grand for free!" Cyla exclaimed.

"Are we going into another of them fuss-for-all's, Cyla?" TrobrencusVile asked. "Yes, I did and I'm glad that I did. Any other questions now?"

"For crying out loud!" CelobraVile, who had been very quiet up to now, shot. "Do you people know what you sound like? You make it sound like my father's act of giving Angel, who's a member of his family, a puppy born on his property is a crime. Tazir, are you sure that you returned Angel, and her kids, to the right family?"

Bile, try as he might, was just unable to not stare at the one who had just spoken. In his mind, she was more than a little gorgeous—long, curly hair, that was a creamy-blonde color; a pretty, heart-shaped face that housed a pair of thin lips and a pair of very beautiful, bright blue eyes; and standing at around five foot, four inches... he couldn't help but think that she was finer than fine.

Like her mother, she seemed to be fully color-coordinated in her outfit and makeup; her lips wore a shade of light pink lipstick on them, and her eyelids had a small bit of light pink eye-shadow on them, and there was splash of medium-pink blush on her cheeks. Her blouse was a light pink color; along with having very short sleeves on it, it had a dark pink band around its waist. The rest of her outfit, which consisted of a dark pink pair of pants, and plain pink slip-on shoes, matched with her blouse well. The light pink Swarovski crystal, that hung from around her neck, also went well with her outfit and makeup; while he wasn't sure, he thought that the pink diamond ring, that was on the ring finger of her left hand, was her wedding ring.

After looking at this very beautiful creature, he looked down and then away from her; when he saw that Lhaklar was giving her a more than obvious stare, he jabbed him in the elbow.

"Seems that the boys are showing their interest in the opposite gender. Tell me, Angel, are they straight or—" CelobraVile started to ask.

"They're all very straight." Angel was fast in replying. "Along with doing the occasional flirt with one of the opposite gender, they're very keen on getting and then looking at the photographs that are put in the magazines that are made for the ones in the male gender who have an interest in women."

"Grow up fast don't they?" CelobraVile's smile was friendly, yes, but, to them, a bit too white and bright. "Seems like yesterday that my father found Syamsin in his own personal collection."

"We've been trying to get Angel to either limit their time in looking at their magazines or to take them away—Bile and Hazaar practically have a library of that junk in their chambers." Irka said.

"So does m'granddaddy." SyamsinVile, who, for the most part, had been very quiet since his arrival, said.

"Nothing wrong with them looking at or having that sort of stuff—at their age, it's best for them to look at it in a magazine than to go out and experience it." TrobrencusVile said.

"Thank you, Trob." Angel said. "I have no problem with my sons reading their magazines, or in owning their magazines. Like he said, it's better that they read or look at it in a magazine than to see it in person."

"Cyla's comment on model building being childish offended me—from what I heard down the grapevine, some of your sons build models." Pagnyar Palus, who, like CelobraVile, had been very quiet for most of that day's lunch hour, said. "Which of them is the one that does so?"

Lhaklar knew well the three who had been quiet either all during their arrival or during lunch; Celobra's full name was CelobraVile Rooojaha Surfeit—she, who went by plain Celobra, or Celie, by her family and the ones that knew her, was the mother of SyamsinVile Palus and the wife of Pagnyar Palus. Unlike her parents, who had given birth to numerous children, she only had one child to her name.

Pagnyar Palus and SyamsinVile, the latter who went by plain Syamsin by both family and the ones that knew him, looked a good deal like one another; it was quite evident that they were father and son. After seeing the two for, really, the first time in years, he had been reminded of the creature that was portrayed in The Addams Family—Cousin Itt.

The body that Mr. Palus possessed was covered in long, dark brown hair that was mildly curly; the hair, that was on his head, was trimmed around his eyes while the rest looked rather unruly. The eyes, that stared out from his face, were a dark blue color; the pupils, that were in them, were star-like in shape and were a bright orange color. He was wearing a black tuxedo and shoes—how he managed to tame his hair, so it'd fit in his outfit, and not make any sort of weird budges from underneath it, was beyond him.

The only real, physical difference between Mr. Palus and his son, who was two thousand years old, was the color and texture of their hair. Syamsin's hair, while also being long, and while also covering his body, was dirty blond in color and straight; like his father, the hair, that was around his eyes, was trimmed. The kid had very light blue eyes that boasted small, orange-colored pupils in their centers. He was wearing a simple pair of blue pants and a white shirt that had long sleeves and a button-down front on it; the keds, that were on his feet, were brown.

"They all do." Angel replied. "They have different areas of interest, though."

"What're their interests?" Pagnyar asked.

"Boats and planes." Lazeer was prodded in saying. "And dinosaurs."

"Trains and spaceships." Hazaar said.

"Cars." Lhaklar answered.

"Not all that into building models—unless it's something good to look at and keep, I don't buy or do them." Bile replied.

"Like?" Pagnyar prodded Bile for more details on what he liked to build.

"Anything that's cool or—ahem—sexy."

"My husband has a rich interest in the hobby." CelobraVile said. "Think he, and your sons, will hit it off well, Angel."

"How long has it been since they stopped smoking?" Qepax Veonim asked.

"Since our return here." Angel replied. "Haven't had so much as a puff since."

"That's good—smoking is best left to us adults." Qepax said. "Might not be very healthy for us, but our lungs can handle it a lot better than someone who's in their mid-teens."

For Hazaar, Qepax Veonim reminded him very much of the insect-man that had been portrayed in the 1997 movie, Men In Black—it had taken a lot of effort for him to not voice this, or stare at him after seeing and then being introduced to him.

Mr. Veonim, the husband of BenociVile Bajinia Surfeit, and the father of TralisaVile Veonim, looked like a big, ugly roach; his back was brown while his front-side was a yellowish color. The feelers and antennae, that were on his head, were tied together with a piece of rawhide. Curiously, he had multi-brown hair on his head—it was cropped short, and was very well maintained regardless of its seemingly greasy appearance. The man's face had a stubby nose and large, yellow eyes in it; the pupils, that were in the man's eyes, were almond-shaped and black in color. The arms, that came out from the man's roach-like body, were long and thin; they had two fingers on their ends.

Due to the man's motion in opening his mouth, to comment on their "dropping" their habit of smoking, and to comment on how an adult was able to handle it better than one who was a teenager, he had been able to see that he had just six teeth—they were yellow, and were quite sharp in form.

Qepax Veonim, who was rather chunky in appearance, and who stood around six feet tall, was wearing a brown checkered tuxedo; the shoes, that were on his feet, were a normal brown color.

"Tazzy, is there another room—dining room, or kitchen that has a table and chairs in it—that the children can eat in?" TrobrencusVile, who had noticed that most of the youngsters present at the table weren't eating, asked.

"With the exception of the smaller kitchen, which can fit between six and ten at a time—if the ones that are in it prefer to eat elbow-to-elbow, that is—, this is the only place where one can eat a meal." TazirVile replied.

"That's a shame—the younger members at the table are still growing, and they do need to eat." TrobrencusVile sighed. "Eating generates growth, and it gives them the energy that they need to move on. All this fighting just takes away appetite. May I ask how many times fights have sparked up during mealtime?"

"Four," Ashaklar answered. "And most happen during breakfast."

"Pardon me Miss, but who are you again?"

"Ashaklar Ubalki, Tazir's mother."

"A woman who shouldn't be here." Cyla said smugly.

"Pardon me but I think my boys and I will be excusing ourselves." Angel said. After standing from her chair, then making the motion for her sons to do the same, and then to follow her, she started towards the northern doorway that was in the room. "Have a puppy to retrieve, and four boys to see to their rooms."

"I'd really prefer for you not go looking for that puppy, Angel." TazirVile said. "Let me and one of the men go—you stay here, where it's safe."

"I'm going, Tazir." Angel said. She gave him a stare that said that he was to say no more on the subject. "To give you a bit of relief, I'll have Homsi or Eldass or Kalach come with me."

"Who and who and who?" TrobrencusVile asked.

"Members of my staff." TazirVile said before giving out a long, winding sigh. After sighing, he sat back in his chair; he was a very much beaten man on the issue of who was to go find and then retrieve the puppy. "Alright, Angel. Just come back to me and the boys, and Eshal, in one piece please."

"Oh no, I was planning on coming back in two or three pieces—which will all have their own, personal fang marks." Angel replied teasingly.

The claim of her seeing her sons to their rooms was never, fully done—instead of taking them to the level that their rooms were on, then watching them as they went into them, she led them to the foyer then watched as they went up one of its staircases. Before they had the chance to go up the staircase that they picked to ascend, she told them that there were a few things in their rooms that they weren't expecting—the day following her encounter with a very livid Trobrencus, she had "escaped" the mansion to go to Earth, where a few things had been searched out and then either bought or spell-sent to the closet that was in her and her husband's chamber.

Lhaklar was probably going to flip after seeing the two models that were sitting on his room's desk; the AMT 1925 Ford Model T "Chopped" Coupe had been a surprise find and then buy while the model of the 1938 Citroen CV 15 TA Burago had been "lifted" and then spell-sent to the mansion—the second model, while having her son's name written all over it, hadn't looked worthy of the $50.95 that had been on it.

Lazeer would find a model of a Mandarin airlines Boeing 747 in his room while Hazaar would find a model of Spaceshipone—which was based on the experimental aircraft that had been sent into space in April of 2056, but that had met with disastrous results almost immediately after being launched—in his. Before leaving the store that she had gone into, she had also seen and then either bought or spell-sent a model of a 1900's Harbor Tug—for Lazeer—and Nurgle Hebrute Lord—for Hazaar—home.

Tazir was probably not going to be very talkative to her after seeing what Bile was to be making in the next few minutes to few hours—the model of of Fay Wray, that included the unpainted hand of Godzilla in its box, was rather risque but, like with Lhaklar's Burago model, it had had Bile's name written all over it. The same went with the model of a very busty Elvira, the Mistress of the Dark.

She hoped that the models would keep them busy for a few days and she also hoped that Lhaklar and Lazeer's present moods would be lifted by what was waiting for them in their rooms—she worried, and a good deal too, about them! She had noticed that they were being very clingy with her, and that Lazeer was acting fearful of leaving his room unless she or Bile was there to ensure that he was well during the process of crossing it; while the attempt in getting them to talk out their troubles had been done she had heard nothing of what was wrong with them.

Though she wanted to know what was wrong with the two of them, she figured that, when the time was right, they would speak of what was up and then get some advice for it. In the meantime, she'd just let them be as clingy as they wanted to with her.

After stopping before the foyer's twin staircases, then saying for her sons to go upstairs and then to their rooms, then seeing them as doing as she had told them to do, she went to find either Homsi, Kalach, or Eldass.

"Can't ask Losal to aid me in what I need to do—even though he's five feet tall, and pretty strong, he's not much for snakes." she thought while looking for one of the three men that were in her Circle.

Usually, after Mr. Khrelan came upon, and then killed a snake, he leaned against the surface of some nearby item then started hyperventilating—snakes freaked him out something awful!

Zshon, while being bigger in body, and taller than his father, didn't like snakes either—he, on average, kept himself as far as he could from the creatures and, furthermore, he was very against his being sent anywhere near the tree orchard or having to go into it.

Homsi Modulavich, Eldass Zultoa, and Kalach Speelin were the three best choices that she had—they looked to have no anxiety issues with snakes, they kept their heads on whenever they were in or around the tree orchard, and they did, on occasion, joke about the animals.

After walking down three hallways, and asking this Goblin and that Goblin if they knew where Homsi, Eldass, and Kalach were, and getting a no-answer on each asking, she decided to go to the closet where the rubber boots and gloves were stored. She was fast in donning her husband's rubbers, and in putting two pairs of gloves on, then she resumed her prior task in finding someone to help her in playing "escort" during her time in looking for the puppy.

Either it was coincidence or just plain luck but, almost immediately after she resumed her search for one of the three men that she wanted to speak to and then have with her during her time in being in the tree orchard, she came upon Kalach Speelin.

"Mr. Speelin," Angel said after approaching the man.

"My Mistress," Kalach bowed politely. After bowing, he took in her foot-ware. "Pardon me, Mistress, but you do look a bit swallowed up in them boots."

"Only wearing them because I have something to do in the tree orchard." Angel commented. "Are you going to be busy for the next ten to fifteen minutes? The puppy that I brought back a couple of days ago was chased to the orchard and I need to find and then bring her back."

"Nothing of high interest is on my agenda, Mistress." Kalach said while going past her then going towards the closet that she had gotten the boots and gloves from. She followed him, then watched as he put a pair of boots and gloves on. "Might we ask for another to help us? Slikix Mustafe, I do believe, just came in from that place—think my brother said something about him saying that the snakes are a bit too abundant in the area."

"That scares me, yeah sure." Angel said. Hearing that the area that she was planning on being in was "abundant" with snakes made her concern for the puppy grow.

Seeing as Homsi and Eldass couldn't be found, she asked Kalach if he knew of one who could aid them in what they were about to do; he responded by saying that a man by the name of Lusotobaar Hiperaun might be able to help them, and that he had no fear of snakes to boot. While going to find the guy, she learned that he was just ten years in on working for her husband and that he was rather burly. Almost immediately after being told that he was burly, and that he had a way of "disposing" snakes, they came upon him.

Mr. Hiperaun met well with Kalach's description—his five foot, one inch body was rather burly in build, and he did look more than capable of being able to handle himself around animals that slithered instead of walked or ran on legs. His skin was a near-purple color while his eyes were green; his platinum-blond hair was both stringy and combed to the side. He had a mild spotting of warts on his left cheek and jaw. His outfit, though very tuxedo-like, was an odd, brownish-gray color. Despite his polite demeanor, he did mention, and rather loudly too, that he wasn't loyal to her—they waited for him to don a pair of boots, and then some gloves, then they followed him out the door then towards the orchard. While on the way to the orchard, the two men stopped to take up a pair of shovels—for the snakes, she knew.

The noon air was warm, but cool at the same time; the breeze, that was present, was catching against her hair a bit too well. When they were within seeing distance of the orchard, they were able to hear the sound of a dog barking—although she knew where the orchard was, she let Lusotobaar lead the way to it.

"What does the puppy look like, ma'am?" Lusotobaar asked. With his not being loyal towards her, he'd not allow for himself to call or refer to her as being his Mistress; he called her Ma'am out of respect instead.

"Her coat is a mostly brown color; it has gray mingling in it in certain areas, and she has two dark brown, or gray, patches on her sides." Angel described the puppy. "Her muzzle, ears, belly, and the underside of her tail have feathering on them too."

"Are you sure that she went to the tree orchard, ma'am?"

"According to my husband's niece, she disappeared behind some hedges that went around a bunch of trees."

"I do hear a puppy barking," Kalach said. "Slikix, while claiming to not see a puppy, did say that he heard a lot of barking while being in the orchard."

"Then it's possible that she's not been harmed by any of the snakes. If she's barking, she's fine. If she's not... well, she's just not." Lusotobaar said absently. "Puppy have a name yet?"

"No. Before she was chased off, my children were talking about it; none of the names that they were speaking of were chosen for her." Angel replied.

The orchard, while looking pretty on the outside, was rather ominous on the inside; she had never really liked the orchard. While the fruit that came from it was good, and while it looked pretty to look at from a distance, it posed a good threat to the ones that both lived and worked on the property. She remembered a time where she had tried to talk Tazir into tearing it down and then getting another built in another part of the yard that wasn't accessible to the snakes—Tazir, instead of listening to her, and doing as she had suggested, had kept the orchard where it was.

The orchard was a large one; a row of apple trees grew behind the hedges while, behind them, were two to three rows of peach trees. The two to three rows, that were behind the peach trees, had pear and orange trees in them. The span of land, that was behind the pear and orange trees, was bare. The yellow path, that went between the rows of trees, was where most of the area's snakes were encountered—they liked to lie on the path then sunbathe themselves. The snakes that either lived or decided to go into the trees were the ones that caused her the most concern—around thirty percent of the bites experienced by her husband's employees had come from the snakes that had made the decision to live or climb into the trees.

After entering the area, then giving it a quick scouting, the first thing that they saw was a nice, big, fat orange snake. Lusotobaar reacted by going towards the animal, then raising his shovel, then bringing it down—slice; the snake was severed in the middle clearly. Kalach imitated his action after seeing a similar, but green-colored, snake a few seconds later.

"Hello?" Angel said after going by the two men, who were now clobbering snake after snake that they saw in near-rapid succession.

The puppy's barking seemed to have an echo in the orchard; she didn't know where she was thanks to the echo-like barks sounding to be coming from every direction at once. After calling for the puppy to come to her, then simply talking while going foward, she went quiet; she left the two men who had come to assist her in her chosen chore behind after doing so.

"Almost every damn snake that's know to live on the planet is here!" she thought while following her feet to wherever they were taking her.

After shivering, she lost track of her bearings; she walked right through two rows of trees, and was very nearly bit by a snake, who was hanging from the branch of one of the trees that she passed by.

The snakes, that were in their burrows, or that were slithering out and in the open, coiled, then acted like they were going to snap at her, before relaxing and then going by their ways. This happened for a matter of minutes before she stopped then started wondering if the animals were afraid of her, or if they were sending an unknown signal that said that she wasn't a threat to them to the ones that were either nearby or that were a distance from her.

The puppy's barking, which was now being laced with a good dose of whimpering, was able to be heard louder now; it seemed that with each step that she took it got louder and closer... She walked through a grove of pear trees; a black snake hissed at her, then opened its mouth, before slithering up the branch that it was sitting on.

Everywhere there were snakes; black and yellow, orange, orange and black, green, blue and black, and plain black and in all different sizes too. Some had round heads—these, she knew, weren't venomous—while others had triangular or square-shaped heads—these were the ones that were venomous, and that one should be wary of. The snake that was rather "famous" on the planet was called the Black Mobas—along with having three-inch fangs in its mouth, it was fifteen feet in length when fully grown and it was also a very black color. One bite from this snake would cause one to be needing a faster than fast trip to the hospital—the venom was very fast acting; it usually took just ten minutes before the one who was bitten was pushing out Daisy's.

Black Mobas were bad. The Green Racer, while having a relatively weak venom, was bad because it typically went for the throat. The NatiMoKing was one for giving more than one bite and the Blue-and-Black Ocian was known for being very long-lived after being swallowed by a fish—this species of snake was "famous" for biting the fingers that came in to claim the fish that was reeled in, and it was also known to "leap" at the one who was cultivating the fish after the fish was landed and then brought home to be made into either a meal or a trophy. The Blue-and-Black Ocian was known for having two sets of fangs in its mouth, and for giving twice the amount of venom that any one snake produced, and it was also known for its habit in grabbing its victim and not letting go—you'd be flinging the item that was bit and that fucker would just stay on. Curiously, while the snake wasn't as venomous as the Black Mobas, it preyed on and ate that type of snake.

After thinking up the various snakes that were known to be on Moas, and seeing almost all of them in the orchard, Angel ducked to avoid the low-hanging branch of an orange tree. The puppy had stopped barking; except for the light mist, that was blowing in from the north, it was very quiet and still now. This did more than scare her.

"Kalach?" Lusotobaar said after noting the sound of total silence.

With their having been preoccupied with the task of killing the snakes that crossed their paths, they had forgotten all about following the woman that they had taken to the area; with the area being as quiet, and as still, as it was, they found themselves as being both concerned for the woman and for the animal that she was looking for.

Twenty-four snakes had been killed; most were split down the middle while others had their heads chopped off or were cut in more than three ways. Curiously, the snakes had all disappeared—this, in itself, caused them to be even more worried for the woman who was their employer's wife and the puppy that she was there to find and then retrieve.

Kalach's throat was dry while Lusotobaar's was sticky; sweat was just pouring down Lusotobaar's back when the sound of his co-worker's voice was heard. Kalach called for their employer's wife—it came out as weak, and mellow, at first then it became very loud and nerve-filled. When no word was heard from the woman, Kalach stepped forward; he was just going by one of the trees that had a more than bountiful harvest of peaches on it when Lusotobaar lunged and then grabbed him by his arm.

"Sshhh," Lusotobaar said while holding his finger to his lips.

When the name of their employer's wife stopped echoing in the area, they heard something that about made their blood run cold; after hearing what sounded like a woman and a young male speaking to one another, they held their shovels in a weapon-like manner then stepped forward.

Their employer hadn't had to deal with all that many trespassers since becoming a resident on the planet and then getting his property and house fixed up to live in; some of the people that were noted as being on his land were just passerby folk—people who had taken a long country walk and then gotten lost, and then decided to duck into a place to both calm down, cool off, and figure out where they were—while there was one or two who had come with intentions in taking something from the property. A majority of the trespassers had been sent off with a warning to not ever come back on the land; the one person who had continued to come back had been arrested and then charged with trespassery with the intent of thievery.

They hoped that their employer's wife was okay and, furthermore, they hoped that the ones that they were hearing would heed their advice in willingly leaving the land that they were on.

"Sir, I really do apologize but I don't think we can help you further." the woman was saying. "We're an adoption agency, not the police."

"Surely you have some no-k-tes, or a phone call or something from her; this a-k-gency is where my paperwork was pushed through." a male being, who had a low, nasally-sounding voice that had a very youthful crack in it, said. "The paper, saying that I was no lon-k-ger a ward of my former parents, was signed by my real mutter nearly four months ago—i-k-t was sent here, for processing, then it was approved and then sent to me. I have the original papers on me that say that Angel Irene is—"

"Sir, what is your reason for coming here again?" the woman asked.

Angel blinked her eyes before giving her head a shake; she couldn't believe what she was seeing! Her subconscious had been tapped into only once; Dione had been the one to do it and she had been asleep to boot during that process. The feelings expressed by one after experiencing such an event were basic, and very well documented—numbness of the body, confusion, the inability to warm the body up, the feeling of being violated, and fear; she had experienced this when Dione tapped into her subconscious that one time and, personally, she hoped to never go through it again.

What she was experiencing wasn't being caused by one who had tapped into her sleeping, unconscious mind; she was awake, she had full mobility, and she was able to see everything of what was being played out to her clearly. If her unconscious mind had been tapped, she'd be in a trance-like state and she'd not be able to move or see what was going on around her very well.

She, after following the mist trail to the orchard's middle, had stopped after seeing a white light blink on and then off; the light had been so fast that she hadn't been able to detect where it was coming from or if she was really seeing it or not. The mist had become a fog after the light was seen, then she had screamed, then the fog had wrapped itself around her... the more she had run, the more it had wrapped itself around it. She had only stopped trying to get away from the fog when the two voices were heard, and when her surrounding environment started to change.

She was no longer in a fruit tree orchard; the room, that she was in, was very business-like. Red-flowered wallpaper was on the walls, and a pinkish-red colored rug was under her feet, and a light brown desk was sitting before two chairs that looked very appropriate for any type of business-like building. After seeing the woman—she had blonde hair, that was held in a bun, and blue eyes—and then the one who was sitting before her, she had taken a few steps forward to see what it was that was so shiny on the desk.

The computer was very retro, but looked to be doing the woman well; the stapler looked to have a roll of tape around it; the phone was one of them cordless types; and the wire-rack file organizer was very normal. After looking at the copper-plated nameplate, that was close to the desk's front edge, she had seen the name of Patricia Appold—Patricia Appold, the woman who was behind the desk, she presumed, was holding herself very well despite looking to be rather concerned and worried about her office companion.

"The one that I saw on the twentieth, and then again on the twenty-ninth of December..." she had thought after turning to look at the one who was seated before Patricia Appold's desk.

Due to his not wearing a shirt, she could see that he had a very strong upper body; his arms were nicely muscled while his chest, shoulders, and back were very impressively muscled. Again, she compared his six-pack to her son's—it was very well-formed, and it looked more than a little strong. As far as she could tell, he had a more slender build from the waist on down.

The remnants of his hoodie were, once again, masking the features of his dark face while the rest of him was able to be seen. The chain, that was wrapped around his neck, looked to connect with the one, or ones, that were around his chest and shoulders. The chain belt that he was wearing around his waist looked to connect to them two chains. His pants, which looked of the black-jean variety, were pretty well messed up while his heavy-duty combat boots had a lot of wear and tear on them.

His skin was as black as the midnight sky; due to his hands being cupped between his legs, she wasn't able to see what kind of nails he had, or even if he had any fingernails on himself. For some reason, she got the impression that the one in the chair wasn't a full-grown adult—she guessed that it was the way his voice cracked that gave her this idea but it could also be the rather unsure/uncomfortable/nervous way that he was holding himself in that was giving her this thought.

When she stretched her hand out to the darkly-skinned person, intending to get his attention, and then ask him who he was and why he was disturbing her, she found to her extreme shock that he wasn't fully there. Her hand, instead of being placed on his shoulder, went right through it.

"My former family were the Meyer's... I never ge-k-t mail, and was quite surprised when Lenora Meyer, my former mutter, threw me a pack-k-age that was from this agency." the dark being explained almost immediately after her hand went through his shoulder. "Tha-k-t package had a lot of paperwork in it... the firs-k-t page of it had my birth mutter's and Angel Irene's signatures on it saying that—"

"Were you in the care of this agency, sir?" Patricia asked.

"Since my birth, yes."

"Why are you hear?"

"Immediately af-k-ter getting what I did, I moved out from the Meyer home. I wen-k-t straight to my new home... to the address that my new mutter was said to live at. She had four sons—two older, and two younger than me. When I go-k-t there... when I got there they weren't there. The apar-k-tment had all the main furnishing i-k-tems in it but they weren't there. I—"

"How long has it been since you went and found them as not being in the residence?" Patricia asked. "What you've told me is very abnormal, sir. Normally, we have the family come to pick up their newly adopted children; we don't have the children that we have in our facility, or that we're formerly adopted out to someone, go to their new homes on their own."

"I've known the woman tha-k-t's listed on my new papers since I was three hundred and seventy-three years old." the dark person said. "She's been the only one that's shown me any—"

"How long has your new family been missing?" Patricia asked.

"Almos-k-t a month."

"If you wish for us to give you a new family we can do that. How old are you?"

"I don-k-t want a new family! I wan-k-t the one that I was going to be with... I want—"

She never got to heard the rest of what the man wanted; she was suddenly yanked back into reality—when whatever was done to her was done, and when she found herself as being back in the real world, she found herself as sitting almost squarely on a small hole that a group of snakes were all coiled up in.

After apologizing to the snakes, then getting up, then brushing the seat of her pants, she looked around. The puppy, she saw, was nearby; she went to her, then picked her up, then started the process of moving away from the area that the both of them had found themselves as being in. Miss. Puppy, though looking to be fine, had her tail between her legs—with no puncture marks, or any other injuries, being found, she deduced that she was just scared.

While walking down the path, to where she thought was the orchard's entrance, she thought about what she had just experienced. Why had Mr. Dark-Boy been speaking about her, and why had he been in an adoption agency while speaking about her? Who was he, and why was he stalking her? The guy that she had seen on a current three times, while looking demonic, seemed rather innocent and he sure had a teenage quality to him that was very hard to not miss.

After going around ten to fifteen steps, Angel stopped then shook her head; she was really confused. Except for knowing that she was confused, and half-so scared, she had no answers to who it was that she had just seen, or why she had just experienced what she had.

She had only just taken a step forward, to continue on her way to where the orchard's entrance was, when she both saw and came upon Kalach and Lusotobaar. After seeing the two men, she stopped then emitted a shaky sigh.

"Mistress, you okay?" Kalach asked after reaching to within arm's distance of her.

"Yes. Yes, I'm perfectly fine." Angel lied.

"Puppy alright?" Lusotobaar asked.

"Seems to be. Haven't found any snake bites on her... either I or Tazzy will have her seen by a vet just to be sure, though."

"Ma'am, if I may, did you see anyone while you were looking for the puppy?" Lusotobaar asked as he took to leading them from the orchard. "Mr. Speelin and I heard voices—talking, ma'am. A young-sounding male and a female."

Other than saying that she hadn't, she said nothing on what she had just experienced; why bother anyways, and why make a man who was loyal to her grow concerned for her and a man who wasn't loyal to her think that she was crazy?

She followed Lusotobaar from the orchard, then she took to leading both men to the house, then she thanked them for their service while watching as they removed their boots and gloves. Once their boots and gloves were removed from their bodies, she turned then went into the house. The puppy, after being taken inside, started wagging her tail and acting like she wanted to be put down; she worked her husband's size eleven boots from her feet, then his gloves from her hands, then went to see where he was.

The feeling that she had felt, after going into the house, was grand; she felt safe now, and she had a feeling that Miss. Puppy felt the same way.


	28. Chapter 28

"Play? You call this play!" the most ludicrous excuse that she had ever heard was no more expelled before she reacted to it; after screaming, then shooting up from her chair, she went over to her son, who was sitting on one of the living room couches. Once she was near him, she started pointing out his various injuries. "Arm's broken; his face is all busted up; he's covered in cuts and bruises; his pants are lacking their seat; and most of his shirt is missing!"

Lazeer winced almost immediately after his mother started pointing out his injuries; the early afternoon of January 6 had, without a doubt, been a very bad one for him. If not for that punk-bastard Baruk, and his gang of bullies—Gaajah and Bohir, the latter who had been "recruited" into Baruk's gang around six to eight hours after he and his family arrived for their stay—, he wouldn't look like something that a dog had chewed and then spat out or be in the pain that he was feeling.

After consuming lunch, which concluded about twenty to twenty-five minutes ago, he had made the decision to go outside; all while going to the back door, where access to the backyard would be granted to him, he had been followed by the three bullies—had he put two-and-two together on why they were following him, or on what they were planning on doing to him? Uh, no. He had just figured that they were planning on going outside too. He had continued on his way, minding his own business, thinking his own thoughts, while they followed and came up with malicious ideas on how to hurt him. Their plans for him were done right after he stepped out the door—Baruk grabbed and then shoved him, then Bohir ran up to trip him, then Gaajah had done the "honors" of dragging him down the porch steps and then kicking him in the ribs.

Baruk, after he was down, but slowly getting up from his near-seated position on the yard's artificial terrain, had charged down to where he was and then grabbed him by the back of his shirt; all it had taken was one rip from the guy before all of the front and back of his orange and green, camo mesh shirt to tear. All he had left of his shirt were the sleeves, which he was still wearing.

"Hey... Lil' Bro!" he remembered Bile saying at around 8:18 that morning.

He, who had been a little on the cranky side, had grumbled before turning and then retracting his steps down the hallway; after entering his brother's bedroom, then following him to his dresser, his mood had been lifted. Bile, who was a rather cool dude, and who liked to wear certain things that may or may not bring up his image, had taken one of his "dude" necklaces out from the drawer that they were in and then slid it around his neck. He had felt honored by the trust given to him in his being allowed to borrow and wear a necklace of his—the "silver" chain might of been retro but the stainless steel Eagle claw, that was holding a red cubic zirconia, hadn't; he had found himself as looking forward to toting the thing around for the day.

He had done his usual after receiving the necklace—after thanking his brother, then going downstairs for breakfast, he had concocted a plan on his wearing it all day before, at around suppertime, returning it to its owner. Thanks to Baruk's action of grabbing and then ripping it from his neck, then using one of his Elemental Fire powers to melt it after it was in his possession, he couldn't do that now. He had come close to crying after his brother's necklace was destroyed—he had been responsible for keeping that safe!

"This wasn't play! This wasn't rough-housing—he was beat the fuck up!" his mother was saying to his aunt, who looked very non-believing in the face. "And if you can't see it then I suggest you go get your eyes checked!"

The room had a total of six people in it—including him and his mother, there was his Aunt Irka, Granddad Duru, his father, and "Uncle" Trob. Of the six in the room, there was just one that was trying to pull a fast one in saying that what happened between he and her son was nothing more than play, which was more than a little absurd. How does his going out to enjoy a little fresh air, and get a little outside-oriented exercise, accredit to what happened? No, he had been followed, and then attacked, and then left for the crows, or for whatever avian life there was on the planet.

After his brother's necklace was destroyed, he had gotten up to avenge it—or at least try to. The idea of his defending himself had been far from his mind at the time; it had just been the necklace that he had concerned himself with.

Instead of beating the bullies back, then going inside to tell his mother what happened, he had found himself as being in trouble. His feet had no more been placed beneath him, and his fist had no more been swung, before Gaajah came in to assault his right side. Due to how slick the grass was, he hadn't been able to gain any traction or stop himself from flying into a set of metal trash cans—his head, after colliding with one of them, had made a _dong_ sound that he was still hearing, and he had seen a lot of stars too. After regaining his senses, he had grabbed one of the cans' lids and then held it before himself; Baruk, who had been coming for him, had howled after his fist collided with it—the King of the Bullies was taken out after that occurred. His action of jumping up, and then delivering a square-hit to Baruk's face, was what caused him to fall; up to the fight's near-conclusion, he had stayed down.

Gaajah had taken it upon himself to assume command after Baruk was down; after grabbing him, then turning him so he was looking at him, he had wailed on him—and he, in return, had done the same to him. Gaajah was probably going to find himself as having one or two black eyes, a pair of swollen lips, and a load of bruises on him thanks to his act of defending himself. Naturally, he didn't want to know what kind of injuries he had on his face—he knew that his nose was bleeding, and that his right cheek hurt a great deal, and that he had a dozen to, maybe, two dozen cuts and bruises on himself. Knowing this was enough; he was content with hearing that his face was "busted up."

The one who assumed command of Baruk's gang was put into a temporary submission after his fist sailed into the house's side; with Gaajah being so distracted by "the pain" that he was feeling in his hand, he had taken advantage of him by tackling and then beating him up. After Gaajah was down for the count, he had found himself as having to deal with Bohir, who, for the most part, had stood on the sidelines, acting like a stupid sort of audience to the carnage that his bully-friends were creating. Bohir had ripped him up and then thrown him to the side like a rag-doll; he had no more collided with the ground before finding himself as being jumped on—Bohir had either been very caught-up with what he was doing or he was crazy... all while his fists were flying, he had been laughing like a loon. Bohir's energies had been concentrated on his chest and stomach, so he probably had a good deal of bruising on them parts of his body too.

Bohir had no more been kicked from him, and the process of his getting up had no more been started, when the near-crippling blow was given—Bohir, after regaining his balance, had kicked his foot up; he, in response to the kick, had flown towards the porch steps. After hitting his head on one of the steps, he had experienced a sort of black-out.

"Honey, I see what you're saying but—" Aunt Irka started to say.

"Don't try to pass the buck off on someone else, or try to sweeten me up!" his mother snapped. She breathed angrily before going on in what she wanted to say. "Mr. Khrelan sure found a mess after going out to take care of the afternoon trash—instead of righting the cans, then putting the trash that he was carrying in them, he found my son, who was lying underneath the porch. Lazeer, after being coaxed into leaving the underside of the porch, said that he had been ganged up on and then beat up by Baruk, Gaajah, and Bohir. I was called down right after he was brought in; after hearing what happened, then seeing the damage done to him, I yelled for all of you to come down to see for yourselves what your—"

"Can your son speak? I'm not doubting you at all—I just want him to acknowledge what happened while I'm here to hear it." TrobrencusVile said. Lazeer gave a slight shiver; the anger, that was seeping into the man's weasel-like voice, was very detectable.

He, after being allowed to come-to from being blacked-out, had gone for both Gaajah and Bohir; he had been giving them a good run for their money when Baruk returned to "finish" him off.

Baruk was very barbarian-like during this part of their encounter; after emitting a sort of growl-like roar, then evading one of his punches, he had grabbed him by his right arm and then swung him around. After pinning his arm behind his back, then putting a lot of pressure on it, he had yanked it towards the sky. He, as was natural of one who's arm was just broken, had screamed after feeling the bone that was in that arm snap—after Baruk released him, then stepped back, he had screamed again; after colliding with the ground, he had felt the broken bits on his newly broken arm grind against one another, which had been more than a little painful.

As if having his arm broken wasn't bad enough, Gaajah and Bohir had jumped on him—with himself being in the state that he was in, he hadn't been able to defend himself; they, after jumping on him, had taken turns in beating the crap out of him.

It was at the time of his begging and pleading for mercy, and crying over both being beat up and over the pain that his broken arm was causing him to go through, that Baruk noticed that he had something in his back left pants pocket.

"Should of never had them on me in the first place!" he thought while trying to keep from crying out.

After today's experience, he was going to put a firm stop on his always having his goggled glass, and its case, on him; with the spheres being hidden by the clouds, he hadn't had a reason to have neither on him. Baruk, after noticing that his pants pocket had something in it, had taken that pocket in his hand and then ripped it, along with the rest of the seat of his pants, from him. The bully, after seeing what it was that was in that pocket, had called his friends over and then initiated a game of toss with them; he, as was natural of anyone who had just had something taken from them, had gone from Baruk and Gaajah and then from Gaajah to Bohir in an attempt to either catch it after they threw it or talk them into giving it back—that, sadly, didn't happen. Even after telling them what it, and the item that was in it, cost, he hadn't gotten it back.

It had taken all of four minutes before Baruk grew tired of throwing the case, and its glass, around; instead of throwing it to the ground, then going back to torturing him, he had opened it and then taken the glass out. After doing this, he had broken the case in half and then stomped on it—Gaajah had helped him in doing this for a few seconds before being "shoved" out of the way. After the case was stomped on, and after Baruk stepped away from it, Gaajah took it up and then threw it to Bohir, who had broken it into more than four pieces—none of them pieces had been collected by him, so he assumed that they had been kept and then distributed as a sort of "souvenir". Baruk had taken to ripping the goggled glass into more than twenty pieces after the broken case was thrown to Bohir; non-surprisingly, he had rubbed its remains on the seat of his pants before dropping them and then giving his lackeys their cue in moving on. The afternoon fun, for them, was over; time to go find something else to cause trouble for.

With his arm newly broken, and with his goggled glass, and its case, being destroyed, and with his body starting to show the signs of the pain that he'd feel later on, he had collected the remnants of what had been destroyed and then crawled under the porch.

Losal Khrelan, like his mother had said, was the one responsible for finding him. After seeing something moving about under the porch, then going to see what it was, he had gasped and then started the move in trying to get him to come out. The man, after seeing him in his wreck of a state, had rushed him inside and then given out the call for his parents to come and quick.

After being taken to the living room, then told to sit down, he had taken the remnants of his goggled glass out from the pocket that they were in and then placed them on the table; his father, while being angry over the destruction of both that item and its case, seemed to be more angry over the fact that he had been beat so badly.

"Uncle" Trobrencus, Duru, and Aunt Irka had come down right after his father had; Duru and Irka looked very non-believing while Trobrencus looked too shocked to believe what he was being told.

"You're saying that you're not doubting what you've been told yet you're asking if my son can "confirm" for you what happened between him and the three that beat him up." Angel sniffed. She went to her injured son, then sat beside him, then gave TrobrencusVile a glare. After glaring at the man, she softened her features then turned to look at her son.

Lazeer sighed; having his mother sitting beside him, and looking at him in the way that she was, made him feel safe and loved. Right now, he wished that everyone would leave so he could be alone with her—he was hurt physically, he was emotionally and mentally traumatized, and he wanted her comfort; in his mind and eye, he'd only be able to get that after everyone was out of the room.

The gentle request for him to tell the man who had doubted his claim on what happened was given then the room grew very quiet; he swallowed twice before trying to do as he had been requested to do—though he did try, his attempt to do as he was requested to do was never able to be done. The pain that was ripping and roaring all throughout his arm grew a degree to two degrees worse after he opened his mouth to speak; with a shake of his head, he clamped his mouth shut then turned to bury his head in his mother's shoulder. His mother responded to his gesture by holding him while his father gave his back a light pat. His father, after patting him on the back, turned to look at and then speak to Trobrencus.

"That's enough, Trob. If hearing from my wife the news on what happened to our son isn't enough then—"

"I normally do need for the one who's been harmed by one of my progeny to speak of what happened between him and my progeny... but, in this case, I'll make an exception." TrobrencusVile said while going forward. He placed his hand on Lazeer's left shoulder then he leaned down to speak into the side of his head. "My son _will_ apologize for what he did to you—you worry about that arm getting fixed up, and in getting some rest."

Lazeer, the poor thing, blacked out after Trobrencus, Duru, and Irka left the room; TazirVile, being just as gentle as he could, picked him up then carried him from the room. She followed the two to the medical chamber, then she watched as the table fixed her son up, then she acted as a sort of escort when the task of taking Lazeer to his room came around.

According to the table, there were three breaks in Lazeer's arm—his shoulder had a "mild" fracture to it; his elbow had an oblique, but non-displaced, fracture to it; and his wrist was broken in two places. While the table was able to heal most of the injuries that were present in his arm it hadn't been able to heal all of them—she was hoping that a healing session with one of her powers would do the trick in getting it to be fully healed. Along with the arm being broken, Lazeer had sustained two cracked and two broken ribs and a lot of minor wounds, which the table hadn't been able to heal and which would have to heal on their own. Thankfully, no internal injuries were found as being on her son.

After her son was in his chamber, and was tucked in, she went to see Bile; after what happened to Lazeer, and after hearing what happened to the necklace that Bile had let him borrow for the day, she felt a need in both going to him and then explaining what happened to his brother and why he wasn't to be getting the exact necklace that he had let his brother borrow back.

Even though the necklace had been destroyed, she had a mind to get her son a new one that was either an exact replacement of it or something similar to it—Bile, if she recalled correctly, had gotten that necklace, and several others, in Nordic City, Wyoming two and a half years ago. Some fellow had been selling necklaces for $1 a-piece and he had made the decision to snatch a few up before the opportunity in doing so was up.

"Wait!" she stopped on a dime then turned to look at her son, who had been out-cold all during his time in being in the medical chamber, and then in being taken up to his room, and then in being placed and then tucked into bed. After turning to look at him, she saw that he was both awake and looking at his closet.

TazirVile, who had already left the room, went on his way down the hallway while she, who had been about to leave the room, smiled then went towards the area that her son was looking at.

Lazeer, for the last two days, had been asking for either her, or Bile, or Tazir to look in his closet for an unspecified something; while Tazir had taken to doing this task in a comical sort of way once or twice he had stopped doing so after it continued being asked of him. He was no longer very "pleased" with having to look in their son's closet for the "boogeyman" and he was now voicing his annoyance in their son doing an action that one in their early hundreds would do. Bile and she, on the other hand, were treating the given task of looking in the closet seriously, and weren't berating him or being annoyed after finding that the room was clean of anything that may or may not want to get at him.

Lazeer, at six hundred and twelve years of age, had stopped being afraid of the fabled boogeyman that lived in their old residence's basement; why he was afraid of the entity now, at sixteen hundred years of age, was beyond her—no hint of what she had experienced a couple of days ago, or on the twenty-ninth of December, had been said, so he shouldn't be scared of his closet space.

As she went to check the closet, she remembered that there was another in the house that was also acting spooked of the area—Zanra, the puppy that had been given to them by Trobrencus, refused to go anywhere near the closet; if she was picked up, and then taken to the area that was before the closet, she'd start whimpering, and her fur would stand on end.

She checked the area that was her son's closet space, found nothing, then went to her son. After sitting beside him, then pushing him back to lying on his bed, she asked him what was wrong. He, at first, didn't answer her; it took her two more tries before he finally sighed and then made the motion to sit up. He, while having a grave look on his face, told her what she needed to know after doing this.

"It happened two nights in a row, mom. On the twenty-ninth and thirtieth." he said.

"What did?" she asked.

"Kept hearing the word "brooder" coming from my closet on the twenty-ninth; on the thirtieth, I heard that word again... then I saw a figure come out."

"What'd this figure look like?" for some reason, she had a feeling of what he was about to tell her.

"Wasn't able to see much of him—he was wearing something like khakis, and the remnants of a blue hoodie, and heavy-duty boots. He was also wearing a lot of chains around either his neck or shoulders and chest." her son described the being that he was worried about. "He came from my closet, then he came right for me, then he spoke to me before going "pop" and then disappearing."

This about caused her to cry—Bile had seen a sort of shadow-person in a very over-done premonition-like dream on the night of December 15, and she had seen a sort of apparition on December 20, and then she had seen something coming at her car on the twenty-ninth, and then she had seen a sort of vision of the same entity on the 2nd of January, and now her youngest son was telling her about hearing someone calling out to him from his closet on the night of the day that the one who had struck her car had been seen and then, the following night, had seen someone as coming out from his closet. This was getting a bit scary. Who was it that was terrorizing her and her two sons, and was it just her and her oldest and youngest-born sons who were experiencing what they were or were all in her family experiencing something that revolved around that dark-skinned being?

After hearing what her son told her, she had a mind to go to one of the house's phones and then make out a few calls. Was her father, who was known to not like her sons by his uncle, the cause of this? None of her sons' old school chums, or associates, had contact with them anymore so it couldn't be that of what was causing them to experience what they were. Could certain people in the house be the cause of what they were experiencing or was something else at work?

Along with having a mind to give her father a call, to ask him if he was causing her and her children grief by making up some entity that'd scare them until his time in coming over occurred, she also had a mind to call Bushon Bedali, the grandson-in-law to her great-grandfather, DuruVile Surfeit.

"Thank you for telling me, honey." she said. This was all that she was able to say to him; with her experiencing the entity too, she was probably as scared as he was about what was going on. "Go on and take your nap. What you saw won't hurt or be hurting you—he's just a figment of your imagination."

"He seemed _very_ real, ma." Lazeer strained after hearing his mother call what he had witnessed on December 29 and then 30 a "figment of his imagination".

"I know, but he wasn't." she tried to reassure him. She smoothed her hand down the sides of his face, then kissed his forehead, then pushed him down to his mattress. Seeing as he was so freaked out, she left the door to his bedroom wide open; before leaving the room, she told him where she was planning on being for the next few hours.

While going down the hallway, towards Bile's bedroom, she thought about all that had been going on in the house for the last couple of days; Trobrencus, while upholding what he had said in his trying to take some of the pressure and stress from her and her sons' shoulders, wasn't able to do all that he had promised to do. He had managed to get the adult members of the household to calm down, and to quit ganging up on her, but he wasn't able to do much of anything with the children, who seemed to be taking up the adults' places in creating chaos for the house and its inhabitants.

Syamsin, for some unknown reason, had come upon Qhuakiz, who had been doing nothing more than sitting on one of the house's staircases. Instead of leaving the boy be, and going on his way, he had said _woops_ before grabbing and then throwing him down the stairs. Qhuakiz was very lucky to be alive; while having some nicks and cuts and bruises on himself, he could well of gotten a broken neck by Syamsin's action in doing what he had. This event occurred before everyone went to bed on the day of TrobrencusVile and his family's arrival for their stay; the event of Phaggo being ganged up on, and half-so beaten, occurred just before breakfast the following morning.

Baruk and Bohir, after coming upon Phaggo, who had been leaving his assigned chamber, had grabbed and then thrown him to the wall; along with causing some substantial damage to his eye and back, and to his clothing, they had also peed on him. Cheshire had not been pleased after seeing his son being in the state that he was in—along with doing a personal yell-it-all at the two boys who had harmed his son, he had confronted both Kuruk and Trobrencus on the injuries that his son had sustained and on the fact that his clothes had come close to being ripped from his body.

A few hours after that occurred, Trobrencus had found his young son, Impub, as running towards him with a better than bloody face. Gaajah and Selik had, for some peculiar reason, decided to corner him in one of the house's bathrooms and then "slap" him with towels. The towel slapping had caused Impub to get more than a dozen scratches, and a rather blood nose. It had also caused him to be more than a little hysterical. Trobrencus had been more than livid after seeing his son's state, and then hearing what happened for him to be in that state. Cyla and he had exchanged a lot of words before Duru came in to say that he'd take care of the issue and that his sons would be seen to the level that the TrobrencusVile Bloym Surfeit family was on to do a personal apology for their action towards the young boy.

The girls were also having their "fun" in causing the ones in their gender grief too; Uevaa and Kaasa had ganged up on Tralisa twice now while Uevaa seemed to have it out for both Blaiga and Defe—along with calling them all kinds of names, she had also torn their clothes and tried to pin the blame for destroying the family meal, which she and Ulision had slaved to make on the fourth of January, on them.

Lhaklar and Hazaar had dealt with two types of bullying on the fourth and fifth of January too; Gaajah and Bohir, along with trying to beat him up, had tried to chase and then drown Lhaklar after he reached the rocky shore that was beside the lowest-lying horse pasture and Baruk and Sudir had tried to pick up and then throw Hazaar after he was seen as doing a rousing game of cat and mouse with the puppy, who he had had a hand in naming, the same day.

Trobrencus, while able to snap at the adults, and get them under control, wasn't able to do so with the children; he could do as he wished with Bohir and, when allowed, Syamsin, but he wasn't able to lay a finger or speak a word to Baruk and Sudir, or Gaajah and Selik, or Kaasa and Uevaa. He could speak, or get all over the cases of the parents of them children but, in the end, it was the parents of them children who were able to do something in regards to how they were treating the others that were in the house.

Sadly, TrobrencusVile Bloym Surfeit's attempts in getting the stress and pressure from her shoulders wasn't doing anything—with the children of the adults now taking up arms in creating havoc in the house, she was in as much, if not more, stress than before. The fact that Tazir had sent the second batch of invites out in the mail two days ago didn't lessen that stress—she was worried that more trouble was on the horizon for her and hers because of them invites being sent out.

"Bile." she said after stopping and then knocking on the door that went to her oldest son's bedroom. After getting no answer, she knocked again—but louder this time. "Bile?" again, the door wasn't answered. If she wasn't under as much stress as she was, she wouldn't think anything negative on this—his stereo could well be on, or he wasn't in his room, or was too immersed in a magazine to hear her. Since she was as stressed out as she was, she got concerned over his not answering her knocks. Her third session in knocking was a lot louder than the former two; she came close to yelling his name after this session was done.

"Ma?" she sighed after he finally answered the door. After the door was opened, she detected the music created by Fear Factory being played—the volume on her son's stereo, she now knew, had been up high enough to drown out her knocks.

"Hello Biley, have a minute? We need to talk." Angel said.

"Am I in trouble?" Bile asked. "Was my stereo up too loud or—"

"No, nothing like that." Angel said. Her son stepped out of the way; she took the invite in going into his room.

Her son was wearing his normal attire—a brown shirt, that was ripped in the chest and stomach areas; a pair of brown pants; and a pair of heavy brown boots—but he was sporting the injuries that he had gotten on the day that Trobrencus and his family arrived for their stay and, of course, the damage that was around his left eye and right hand.

The damage caused to her son's left eye and hand had come from Baruk; two days after his and his family's arrival, he had put Bile "to the test". A push for all had happened between the two of them when they were in the gym, then a sort of race happened—Baruk had been bested, and by more than four lengths too—, then a fight had happened. Baruk, who, obviously, wasn't one for taking his losses in stride, or wasn't very accepting of losing, had pushed Bile before throwing his fist at him; Bile's eye had been hit before the two's fists came in contact with one another. One hit with them fists was all it had taken for Baruk to back down and then go off—Bile's hand had been fine; it had become a bruised mess in a few hours but it had been fine while Baruk's had come very close to being broken.

With Baruk finding himself as unable to take her oldest son done on his own, he had taken to getting Gaajah to "assist" him in doing so; now that Bohir was here, she worried that he'd be "recruited" to make the twosome into a threesome. Bile, so far, was looking up to the part in keeping Baruk and Gaajah down but how would he fair against both Baruk, Gaajah, and Bohir at the same time?

"How in the Universe are you able to work on that model when your music is as loud as it is?" Angel asked after seeing that the model of a female dragon, who was guarding both a clutch of eggs and a chest of treasure, was on the room's desk.

Yesterday, at around noon, she had taken a trip to Earth to get her sons their monthly magazine editions and to, of course, get them a few other things that'd be able to preoccupy them or take their minds from the chaos that was currently going on in their lives. While on the planet, she had also grabbed a few things for Eshal too.

The models of the 1977 Trans Am Pontiac and the 1930 Packard LeBaron; the Jolly Roger and Elasmosaurus; the train that looked very much like a tank and the Totetsu Type Carburetor Steam Locomotive; and the female dragon and the two sexy girls that were fighting while being on the backs of two dinosaurs had all been spell-sent to the mansion while the magazines had all been purchased with cash that had come from her and her family's savings, which was becoming a little on the low side. Eshal, along with getting a model kit of a mare and foal, had gotten two new dresses and a blouse—she, though disclosing her wish in not getting anymore models, had thanked her for what she had gone out of her way in getting for her; it seemed that she had liked the dresses and blouse more than the model.

"Just like doing my models with some tunes going on in the background." Bile replied.

"You're crazy," Angel said. She gave her son a smile before going on to telling him why she was there. "You remember the necklace that you gave to Lazeer this morning?"

"Yeah, the Eagle Claw." Bile nodded his head.

"After buying it, did you keep the card that it was on?" Angel asked.

"Course. Always keep them cards—good thing to keep in case something happens to the necklace and a replacement is needed to be gotten for it." Bile said. "Why?"

"Because the one that you let Lazeer borrow was destroyed—your brother was attacked by Baruk and his gang about thirty minutes ago; Baruk's the one responsible for destroying it."

Bile sighed after hearing what happened between his brother and Baruk and his minions; if he had been there, Lazeer might well of come out from what occurred nearly unscathed and Baruk, Gaajah, and Bohir might well of been sent to the hospital. He was instantly infuriated after hearing of Lazeer's arm being broken, and of his ribs being injured, and of the other injuries that he had on himself—when was it to end? It seemed that with each new arrival the bullying increased—okay, so the adults looked to of dropped out from bullying his mother, and from trying to get them to be as they wanted them to be, but the kids were upping the anti in taking their places. He had a good mind in tracking down the ones who had harmed his brother and then teaching them a lesson on who to and not to mess with.

"What's the problem with everyone in this place? If the ones who did what they did to Lazeer were your sons they'd not be doing as they are, and the parents of them kids wouldn't be letting their kids' antics get so far out of hand if they were like you too. You taught us well, and right from wrong, why couldn't the other adults in this place do the same with their kids?" Bile asked. While he and his brothers had their occasional brawls and pick-ons, they left the bullying alone; not once had they partaked in bullying one another or someone that was around them.

"Everyone's raised differently, Biley." Angel replied.

All of his man's necklaces were in the top drawer of his dresser; the cards that they had been on when he had purchased them were in the same drawer. After a few seconds of searching, he found what his mother needed then closed the drawer. No, he felt no remorse for letting Lazeer wear his Eagle Claw necklace or in it being destroyed while on his watch—Baruk was the cause of the necklace being destroyed so he placed the full of his anger on him.

With the card in-hand, he turned to take it to his mother; she, despite looking rather beautiful that afternoon, was stressed out, which did more than piss him off. She was getting help in the kitchen, and in getting the food to the table, and the adults looked to of calmed down around her, but the kids' actions were just causing her so much stress and anxiety... when was it going to end? Was it going to continue until she exploded, or had a sort of stroke, or was someone finally going to come to their good senses in stopping the bully-doing kids from doing what they were? He was still surprised that the old man hadn't thrown anyone out—he was threatening people but that was all; no attempt on his end was being made to stop what was going on.

"Lazeer alright?" he asked while giving her the card to the necklace that had been destroyed that afternoon.

"Yes. He's in his room, probably taking a nap right now." his ma replied after taking and then pocketing the card. After the card was safely on her person, she nodded her head then turned to leave the room. "Be careful of that stereo now. Don't let it make you go deaf."

"Going deaf by way of a stereo sounds fun, ma." he said before going to turn his stereo back up.

She laughed, then rolled her eyes, then closed the door to her son's room; she wouldn't be but so surprised if she heard of her son using the Silencer spell to mask the sound of his music after she left the room that he had been given to inhabit—along with knowing her son well she also knew that he was one for having the volume dial on the item that he was listening to his music on up high.

After going down to the house's two, lower levels, then looking around for her husband, she was surprised to find that he wasn't able to be found; seeing as her husband wasn't able to be found, and seeing as time was looking to be going by slowly, she decided to return to the house's second level. Once on the level, she went to her and her husband's bedroom chamber, where she drew a bath then got in. She spent around thirty minutes to an hour in the tub before getting out—the intention for the long, soothing bath was to both have the time go by faster and to lessen her stress; after getting out of the tub, she found that she was a little more relaxed. The bath had done what she had wanted it to do.

After grabbing and then wrapping a towel around herself, then leaving the tub, she went to the room that she was an infrequent sleeper in; once she was in the room, she started looking for something to wear—this task of hers was no more started before ending. Tazir, just two days ago, had surprised her with a few gifts; after giving her what he had, he had asked her if she'd wear them on one of the days of that week—while Irka, Cyla, and Dara Dara weren't favoring to what Tazir purchased or asked for her to wear, she always cherished what he bought for her and she did try to wear what he got for her.

The dress that she donned was long, and covered in red sequins; it had no back on it and its front was very low-cut. The sandals had gold laces on them that were decorated with red rhinestones; the silver rhinestone and ruby necklace, that she placed around her neck, matched the dress and the shoes well. After donning all of this, then doing her hair, then checking her reflection in the mirror, she left the room—Tazir, she did recall, had said something about the gown having a spell on it that'd make the younger members of the household not see it for what it really was. All the children would see was a single piece, red sequin gown; no skin of hers would be seen by them, thank the Gods.

Regardless of the spell being present on the dress, she still encountered some folk who were against her wearing what she was; Dara Dara, who was seen as coming down the hallway, towards her, stopped to tell her to return to the room that she had come from and then remove what she was wearing for something more presentable—she thanked her for her "compliment" on her dress-style before moving on down the hall—, and Triskull, who was coming from his given room, eyed her before saying that she should really consider a better wardrobe choice—again, she put forth the thank-you comment on the given compliment before moving on.

After going down the hall, then trying the door to her husband's office, and finding it as locked, she sighed then turned to go back down the hallway. She had no more done this before finding herself as walking into Trivit, who seemed to of put "the sneak" maneuver on her after noticing that her back was turned to him.

"Tazir's habit in taking good care of you looks to still be going on." TrivitVile said before stepping back to take in her outfit. "Mmmm," he gave a smile after taking in her outfit. "very good care indeed."

"Always has and, I do believe, always will." Angel said while trying to move past Trivit. The man prevented her from going past by blocking her.

"How is it that you still find yourself as being so neat and trim after birthing four children, Angel? What's your secret?" he asked.

"Being active and being a mother to my kids."

The side that was currently being exhibited in TrivitVile Afck Surfeit had always been loathed by her; it didn't matter if the man was single or not, or if the woman that he was flirting with was family or was single or not—along with doing the "sneak" maneuver on anyone who's back was turned to him, then doing the tap-thing on the shoulder after sneaking up on that person, he was a big flirt. So far, since his arrival, she had caught him dropping the flirts on both Ashaklar, Qeeta, and Dara Dara—like her, they hadn't liked his doing so. They had done just about everything to get away from him after the flirts were brought out.

TrobrencusVile, while also being a rather flirty man, was known for keeping his flirts with the female members of his family to a low degree; he complimented his female family members about their dress sense, and he might say an off-thing about how their hair was set, but he didn't do the full-blown flirting thing with them. It was people of non-relation to him, and people who worked the households of the ones that were related to him, that he concentrated his flirting energies on—since his arrival, she had caught him as throwing more than enough flirts in the Goblins' direction, and in the direction of some of the male members of the Ubalki family too.

The man swung both ways but he claimed to like women more than men; to her, he was giving a little too much evidence to his being Bi—along with throwing his usual flirts at the male and female staff members, and at Efagti, Amadh, and Cheshire, he had also been seen as trying to grab their asses or "caress" their inner legs with his cane. Despite his being flirty with the hired help, and with the mature male members of the Ubalki family, and despite his being a help in getting the adult members in the house to calm down and leave her and her sons be, the same old Trobrencus was still being exhibited—he had yelled at several of the maids, his cane had been used on Homsi, Zshon, and Ulok twice now, and his fist had been throw in Abevo's direction once; when confronted on doing this, he claimed that he had come across them "slouching" on the job. Both she and Tazir had told him to stop abusing the staff twice now.

She, in order to get away from Trivit, went down to the first level; once she was free of his company, she returned to the second level then went straight to her husband's office. After knocking, then being told to come in, she twisted the door's knob then pushed the door in. It took just one look for her to know that some sort of meeting was going on in the room—Tazir was at his desk while Homsi, Eldass, Losal, and Kalach were either standing before him or were sitting on one of the room's available furniture.

"Am I interrupting anything?" she asked after entering the room.

"No, come on in Angel." TazirVile said after seeing that it was her who had knocked on the room's door. He beckoned for her to come forward. "We were just talking about the boys having some interacting time with some of their old childhood friends."

It didn't take long for her to figure out why the four Goblins were in the room, or why the subject on her sons' childhood friendships had been brought up—Bile and Lhaklar, when they had been very little, had been allowed to interact and create friendships with the hired help's kids. While there had been a few girls that they had been allowed to play with, they had mostly hung around the male kids that were either brought up from the staff's quarters or that were driven from their parents' homes to the mansion; in comparison, Eshal, who had also been allowed to interact and make friends with the offspring of the hired help, had concerned herself with hanging around the ones that were her gender.

Hazaar and Lazeer, due to being infants at the time of their removal from the house, hadn't had a chance to become friends with anyone; if what was being spoken about was what she thought it was, they might just be getting the chance to get that opportunity.

When she walked by Homsi, she saw that he was rather reluctant to conversate on his sons coming up from the staff's quarters and then meeting and interacting with her sons—with all that was going on in the house in the known, she wasn't offended by this. He was concerned that his two sons might be bullied by Baruk and the two that seemed to take firm command from him; from what she was able to see, Losal and Kalach were also worried about this. Eldass looked to be very for his sons to come over.

With Bile and Lhaklar being bigger, and taller, than the kids that they had once chummed with, she made a mental note to keep an eye on them—if what was going on was what she thought it was, and if it was agreed upon to happen, she didn't want her sons to get too overzealous or cause unintended harm to one of the kids that might be coming either up from the staff's quarters or from their parents' houses to see them.

After taking a seat on the room's couch, she detected the eye of her husband being on her; after feeling this, she gave him the signal to go on with what he was doing, which he promptly did.

"Right then," TazirVile said. He cleared his throat before going on. "I understand your concerns about Baruk, Gaajah, and Bohir—they're correctly placed, as are your concerns about Sudir, Selik, and Syamsin." when he stopped to clear his throat again, Angel began to wonder if he wasn't well, or was nervous. After leaning forward, to see him a little more clearly, she saw that he was a little on the sweaty side; his eyes were a little less silvery, and looked to be a little sunk in, and his hands were both cupped before him and were a little shaky. All of this gave her cause to be concerned for him. "I'm planning on being out there when the meeting occurs—nothing that'll cause anyone or anything harm will happen while their seeing the boys."

"Pardon, sir, but what about Uevaa and Kaasa?" Kalach asked. "The last I want is for one of them to take up where the others left in making trouble for you, your wife, and the Young Masters, or for the children that have been asked to see your sons."

"They've been constrained to their chambers for the next few days—for their actions against Eshal and Defe two days ago. Before anyone asks, Syamsin is being watched by his grandfather—and pretty damn well too." TazirVile replied. "I'm keeping my eye on Tralisa—just in case she decides to become involved with any of the childish bullying that's going on in the house."

"When and where will this meeting take place?" Eldass asked.

"I'm leaving the decision on when its to happen to you four fine chaps." TazirVile answered before going on to answering the 'where' portion of the question that had been asked. "The front is where it'll take place—new scenery for the boys, and a chance for them to see what all there is in the front—"

"Will you gentleman be so kind as to give me a moment with my husband?" Angel asked the four Goblins.

Homsi gave his employer's wife a look before getting up then leaving the room; Eldass, who had been sitting in the chair beside him, did the same while Kalach and Losal simply nodded their heads then turned to go to the door. Angel, after the four men were out of the room, stood up then went to her husband.

At the time of her husband's alarm going off, and of his getting up from bed, he had been fine; very healthy and happy—course, the latter could be based on the fact that he and she had engaged in more than plain fondling or bed play last night. Even though a condom had been used, it had been nice to do what they had. At the moment, he didn't look all that healthy or happy. After reaching him, then placing her hand on the flat of his forehead, she noted that he was a little hot—not feverish, no, but hot nonetheless—and that his reflexes weren't what they normally were. After noting his temperature, she spoke to him.

"Strange—you're sweaty, and a little hot, but you're not feverish."

"Haven't had anything to drink since breakfast." TazirVile replied.

"Tazir!" she exclaimed. She left the room; only after retrieving a pitcher of water, and a glass from one of the house's kitchens, did she return to the level that the room was on and then to the room. Her husband, she was fast in noting after returning to the room, was still all by his lonesome, and was still looking rather poorly. She placed the glass before him then she poured some of the pitcher's water in it right after entering the room.

"You should never allow for yourself to get to this level of dehydration, Taz." Angel said. She prodded him into drinking all of the water that was in the glass, and in the next two glasses that she made for him too. Only after them three glasses were drunk did she say, "Look better."

"Mmmmm. Yes, but you look more my taste in having something to drink, My Love." TazirVile replied. His smile was automatically returned by the one that she gave him.

"Instead of doing the lengthy thing between taking down any liquids you should drink something once every thirty or so minutes." Angel said. "And especially now that you're pregnant with numbers four through eight."

"Very funny, Angel." TazirVile laughed regardless of trying to be serious. "I'm leaving the issue of carrying babies, and of giving birth to them, to you. I'm not made for doing neither of that."

Homsi, Eldass, Kalach, and Losal were given the call to return to the room after Tazir was back to being his old, normal self; the meeting, that she had put a pause to, commenced without a hitch right after they were back to being in the room. She merely listened while the men spoke of what was to happen between her sons and the ones who were desired to meet and interact with them. In all, it took around fifteen minutes for everyone to agree to a set system on what was to happen between the children; when everything was set "in stone" the four Goblins were given their cue on going back to doing what they had formerly been doing. After the four men left the room, she stood from the couch that she had, once again, taken to sit on; she went to her husband right after standing up.

"So," she said after the four men were out of the room. "Do I need permission to use one of the phones that're in here or—"

"My love, this is your home too—no permission is needed to be gotten for either you or the boys to use one of the phone's that're set-up in here." TazirVile responded quickly. After seeing her as grabbing the phone that was on his desk, he asked, "So, is the expected callee someone I know, or are you calling an old Earth-flare?"

"Stayed abstinent during my tenure on Earth." Angel replied while going to sit on his lap. She was in no way, shape, or form surprised that he grabbed her before she had a chance to sit on him. His arms, though tightly wrapped around her middle, weren't but so tight, so she was able to breathe.

"My good wife," TazirVile said while nuzzling the side of her face. After nuzzling her, he kissed her then released her. "Did the same as you—my hand was the only thing that I used during your absence."

"So that's why you have that vast collection of hand puppets in our bedroom chamber." Angel laughed. "I can imagine what all there is in the drawer that's locked on our dresser."

"Had a feeling that you was trying to get into my private lubricant stash last night." TazirVile joked.

"Tsk, my good man."

"The drawer on our night table is also locked, if you haven't noticed." TazirVile confided. "The collection of magazines, that I used when one of my "puppets" was on my hand, is in it."

"Be sure to keep that under the boys' radar." Angel said. "They do have an uncanny ability of picking locks."

"I'll remember that."

Since she was on the lap of her husband, and had no privacy in making the call that she wanted to make, she false-dialed a number then waited until the recording said that she had called an unlisted number; after leaving a "message" to the number that was dialed, she placed the handset on its station then reached back to give Tazir a little affection.

They kissed, then caressed one another, then spoke sweet nothing's before she excused herself then got up. After leaving his office, she went down the hall to where one of the hallway-placed phones were; when the phone's handset was in her hand, she started dialing the number for not her father but the Bedali residence.

Duru had been a most unhappy man after returning to the World of the Known; after finding that most of his children had taken up residence on another planet that was in the M-51 Galaxy, he had started asking for all of them to pack up and then "come home". Of the ones that he had tried to get back on Gamma Vile, only Kulabai, the youngest daughter from his first marriage, had done as he had wished. Kulabai was seen by most of her sisters as being Daddy's Favorite, so it hadn't been a surprise to any of them that she had dropped her life on Yunkia, a planet that was two up from Moas, and then moved in with their father—the woman had stayed with the man for a number of months before going out to find herself an apartment, which, to her knowledge, she still had.

Kulabai was one of Duru's same-sex preferring daughters; she, though having many lovers in her life, had been single at the time of her and her sons' "disappearance".

"Try as he might, he wasn't able to get Tazzy to move back to Gamma Vile. Even after Bile and Lhaklar were born, and he started making the near-monthly requests for him to do so, he never did." she thought after dialing the Bedali home-number. While waiting for her call to be picked up, she thought, "To my knowledge, my great-grandfather still has an issue with just about all of the men that his female relatives are married to."

Which she thought wasn't fair; though being of a peasant background, the non-Surfeit men in the family were good folk, and they did seem to treat their partners well.

Majeer Doshluna, the husband of Vaiba, who was her great-grandfather's seventh-born daughter, was said to not be very presentable—he was very presentable in her mind and eye, and his profession was a good one as well. Majeer, despite being rather short in stature, which Duru also had qualms with, was an electrician by trade, and he worked very hard with any task that he was given. According to her great-grandfather, he was mean—he wasn't—, and lazy—he wasn't—, and neglectful—this was definitely not true; he loved his wife, who also loved him, and he loved his children, who were also quite well taken with him.

Kokan Hyunduzia, the husband of Takke, who was one of the daughters of Vaiba and Majeer, was said to be very distractive and lazy when he wasn't; Duru mainly didn't like him because of the fact that he and his wife only had one child—a son who was a little older than Bile and Lhaklar. Kokan was a fine man; though shy, he could be talkative when the right subjects were spoken of. Like Majeer, he regarded himself well with his family and his family did more than reciprocate that.

Bushon Bedali, the husband of Kashira, who was the daughter of Bekla and Keibo Sebatu, and who was another granddaughter of Duru's, was also not liked by the man. Duru claimed that he was an illiterate fool, and that his driver's license had only been given to him as a way to get him out of the building—Bushon was a very smart man, and he had passed his driver's test on the second try, which was basic for just about everyone who went to get their license to drive. Due to having his leg snapped in half by one of his classmates when he had been a student at Goboshu's Academy of Meanness, he walked with a limp; he had been pulled out of that school and then enrolled in another right after his leg was injured. After being enrolled in what Duru called a peasant's school, he had gotten a degree in both Economics and Engineering.

"Hello Tazir—we got your invite a few hours ago. We'll be over at around suppertime so if—" Bushon started to say; Angel was gentle in cutting him off.

"Yeah, I don't think Tazzy looks anything like who's on the other end of the phone."

"Yikes! I would say so!" Bushon exclaimed. She imagined him as growing red around the cheeks. "How's it going over there? Any wars going on that I need to know about?"

"Want to say yes and no." Angel replied.

"Duru?"

"Use to be. After Trob came over, he and his wife, and my grandparents and Shaam, did a retreat. It's now their kids that are giving me, and my husband, a headache." Angel explained.

"Surprised about hearing that Shaam's been involved in whatever's going on over there. What're the kids doing?" Bushon asked.

"The usual—being bullies, and beating up on folk that they either don't like or that they just have it out for." Angel replied.

"Damn. Well, I can assure you that Ladira won't be becoming apart of that. She knows better." Bushon said. "I can imagine how stressed out you are with all that going on."

"Yeah, your imagining is probably not far from what I'm feeling." after saying this, she asked him about his family; instead of just jumping into what she wanted to speak with him about, she figured that it was best to be friendly and familial with him. "Still have one child?"

"No—Kashira and I have three now. Two boys and a lonesome girl." Bushon replied. "Wyir is just a wee thing—he's two hundred and nine—while Sekton's not far behind him—he's three hundred and twelve."

"Congratulations, Duru never said a thing."

"No surprise. Wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't know a thing about them—we haven't heard from him since your and your sons' disappearance, and he wasn't available to see them being born." Bushon responded. "Don't think Tazir knows either. He's been too preoccupied with finding and then bringing you and your sons home to keep up with the day to day happenings of the family."

Before telling him what she and some of her sons were experiencing, and then asking him if he knew of anything to stop it from being experienced, she told him about their having a dog—seeing as he asked her to repeat what she had told him about Zanra, she figured that he was both surprised and doubtful over the animal being in the house. Personally, she was still surprised that she was in the house too, and that Tazir had warmed up to her like he had.

After finding and then taking the puppy from the tree orchard, she had hustled Tazir into scheduling a vet appointment for her; while one of her feet had been noted as being tender, and while she had been "diagnosed" as being highly agitated, she had passed her appointment with flying colors. While on the way home, she had stopped to pick up some things that the puppy could use and that would get them by for the next week to week and a half—hard and soft puppy food, some puppy-appropriate toys, some puppy training pads, and a dog bed, for starters. Though she still didn't like the idea of having any sort of credit cards on her—while she wasn't stingy, or shallow, with the paper money that was given to her, or with the cards that Tazir had gone out of his way to get for her, she was reluctant in using the money that was technically her husband's and that he had worked hard to get; the idea of her becoming like Bespe, or in allowing herself to become "adapted" to the rich person's lifestyle, just wasn't a good one for her—she was glad that she had had them on her on that day because, if not for them few Moas-issued credit cards, she wouldn't of been able to get what she had for the puppy. About two hours after she and the puppy returned home, and after the puppy was a little more rested up, and after everyone in the house was a little more calm, she had asked for all of her children to grab a pencil and a few slips of paper.

The children had been having a time in naming the puppy so she, as a way to help them in doing this chore, had requested for them to do what Bile had "joked" about their doing on January 2. After around twenty pieces of paper were put in one of Tazir's old hats, she had shuffled them around before reaching in to take one out—Hazaar's Zanra had been on the slip of paper that she had taken from the hat; her son, along with winning "rights" to having the newly named puppy sleep in his room, had gloated about his name being picked for her for around an hour before being told to stop.

Tazir, the day after the puppy was named, had been found as both playing with her and slipping her certain food items from the table; as of the last few days, she had found herself as chiding him for his doing the latter thing—most of the men in the house had laughed at her doing this while the women were either on her side or had chided her for getting on him for "bonding" with the animal. Tazir was the one responsible for getting Miss. Zanra a collar, complete with tags, and a leash and harness; the three months of dog food and treats, and the box of toys, had also been purchased by him. The vet appointment, where she was to get her shots, was scheduled for tomorrow—no qualms had been made on his getting it made for her, and he was actually very for his taking her to it. Along with being very open to her going into his office, he was open to her wandering the house unsupervised.

She, after speaking about their having a dog, told Bushon all of what she and some of her sons were experiencing with the entity; with everything disclosed, she waited for a reply. While waiting, Homsi exited the room that he was in then came towards her.

"Going by the description that you've given me, it sounds like you've let a demon attach itself to you." Bushon said after being silent for nearly two minutes. After saying this, he went on to telling her what she should do. "First off, you need to be and stay calm—do you know the spell that'll cause demonic figures who've willingly or unwillingly attached themselves to you to become unattached?"

"Elimination Demoniaque?"

"Yes, that one. Say it, then make a dry potion—the one made for protecting one's self should do the trick. It'll keep the figure from reattaching itself to you. Brew it, put it in a small jar, then wear it. Don't take it off for a month." Bushon said. "Got all that?"

"Got it, thank you." Angel said.

"Alrighty then, I shall see you shortly so, if you have any other questions, or concerns, keep them until then." Bushon said. They said their goodbyes then hung up; Angel, after stepping away from the phone, found herself as coming very close to stepping on Homsi, who was standing almost directly behind her.

"Mistress, is everything alright?" Homsi asked after he and she stared at one another for a full thirty seconds.

"Yes, just having a normal, pleasant conversation with a member of the family." Angel replied.

"You sure? Elimination Demoniaque doesn't sound like something a normal conversation would have in it." Homsi said.

"Everything's fine, Homsi." Angel said. She walked around the Goblin then she went down the hallway. Seeing as she had nothing to do, she decided to go to the library before meeting up with Ashaklar, Qeeta, and Bahne—the subject of what was to be made for that night's meal had yet to be spoken of between them.


	29. Chapter 29

"Get in there and do as I told you to do!" Angel, along with everyone else that was at the table, looked up then towards the room's northern doorway; even though they knew who it was that had spoken they waited until seeing him to pin a name to him.

It had taken a deal of effort on both her and her husband's part to keep the boys from speaking, or throwing a few jokes, towards Trobrencus after he was seen that early morning; while she and Tazir knew the man's dress style they didn't, which was why they had come close to being a bit extreme about what he was seen as wearing.

Even though the era was very different than that of when the medieval knights were known to be around, and even though there were numerous offerings of clothing out there that could fit a man of Trobrencus's size, Trobrencus was wearing something that a knight would wear. The tunic top was black; it had a light gray, splayed-out dragon hand on its chest while, running along its bottom, was a layer of dark gray mesh. The mesh hood, that was on its back, had a zipper on it that'd allow for Trobrencus to remove it if he didn't want to incorporate it into his outfit. The pants were black, and were a little on the loose side on his legs; the brown cane, that had a silver chrome bear head as a handle on it, didn't look to match the outfit at all. The dark brown boots, that had drawstring laces on them, completed the outfit. Hazaar and Lazeer had said something about the outfit being "modestly cool" while Bile and Lhaklar had said that they'd not be caught dead in it—she, and her husband, could concur with that. They wouldn't be caught dead in it either.

Trobrencus, after entering the room, then pulling his son along with him, gave his son a push in the table's direction. After pushing his son, he went to take his place at the table; after sitting down, he glanced at his son for just a second before moving his gaze in Lazeer's direction—it was obvious to just about everyone at the table that he was giving the boy his cue on speaking to him.

"Go on boy! Quit standing there with your tongue twisted." TrobrencusVile snapped after a full thirty seconds passed and nothing was said from his son.

The kid that was standing before the table was one of the bullies responsible for Lazeer being beat up earlier; though looking tough at the time of his joining up with Baruk and Gaajah to cause Lazeer grief he definitely didn't now. He almost looked like he wanted to cry—he was mumbling, and stammering, and his face looked pretty well unstable.

Bohir, who's full name was BohirVile Apadox Surfeit, but who went by plain Bohir by everyone that knew him, looked a good deal like his father. His face was long; both of his cheeks had a red and purple, flake-like patch of skin on them while his forehead had a single, purple-colored patch of skin on it. The two, red patches of flake-like flesh, that were on the sides of his neck, were very noticeable. Except for the cream-colored strands, that were in his bangs and in the back of his hair, his hair was a dark blue color; Bohir's bangs were long and thin—so thin that his cream-colored eyes, that had puke-yellow irises and red pupils in them, could be seen. With the exception of the flaky patches of skin, Bohir's skin complexion was a mostly puke-yellow color—this, and the flaky patches of skin, made him look like he had disease of some sort. He stood six foot, two inches tall; the muscle, that he had on his body, was good and firm and well noticeable.

His outfit, while looking a lot better than his father's, was still something that none of them would find themselves as wearing. The pants were both black and normal in appearance while the shirt was made of black velvet—the shirt, while having long sleeves, and a wide collar on it, was quite baggy... it looked almost two sizes too big for the one that was wearing it. The black suede shoes, that were on his feet, looked rather old—they almost looked like something that someone from the Renaissance, or medieval, period would wear.

It had been quite a surprise to both his parents, and to a majority of the house, that he was becoming involved in the bullying that was going on—with Bohir being two thousand, eight hundred, and three years old, he was the oldest child in the house; one would imagine that, with his being that age, he'd not worry himself about becoming a lackey of Baruk's or be involved in being a bully.

"Bohir!" TrobrencusVile snapped after another thirty seconds passed and no word from Bohir was said.

An apology of sorts was done then Bohir tried to take his seat at the table—the apology given to Lazeer was done in a mere mumble that was barely able to be heard; Bohir's father, who had heard the mumble, but had connected the dots on why it was so barely coherent, prevented the boy from sitting down. Though the language used by the man wasn't known to them they were fast in thinking that he was getting on his son for trying to pull a fast one in saying a fast, and not-meant, apology and in giving out an apology while speaking with such a low voice.

Baruk and Gaajah had already apologized for what they had done to Lazeer—but, unlike Trobrencus, who was intent on his son meaning his apology, and being loud in voicing his apology, they all knew that the two hadn't meant theirs. The apologies given to Lazeer, at around 4:45 that afternoon, by the two had only been said to get their parents off their backs.

Though it took a minute to two minutes, Bohir did give out a coherent and well-meant apology; after the apology was given, he was allowed to sit and make himself a plate. The apology was no more expelled from Bohir before Bile turned to look at Lazeer—he looked a lot better, and their mother had done wonders with her powers so his arm was now no longer broken. He still had the cuts and bruises on himself but he looked a lot better rested and a lot better in spirits than he had earlier that day. It was this, and this alone, that told him to keep an eye on his little brother—Lazeer looked about ready to say something negative on how Trobrencus had gotten on his son and he also looked about ready to spur a joke or two on how "reluctant" Bohir was on giving him an apology.

"Hey," he whispered after noting this in his youngest brother. Instead of speaking with a normal voice, or getting Lazeer's attention, he had given Lhaklar's elbow a tap. Lhaklar was fast in acknowledging him.

"What?"

"Tell Hazaar to give Lazeer a tap on the arm—Lazeer looks about ready to say something that might make everyone's skirts get up in a bind."

Lhaklar, after turning to look down the table, then seeing that his brother was right in what he had said, did as he was told. Hazaar, after turning to acknowledge him after feeling his elbow go into his ribs, and after being told what he was, nodded his head after being told to derive Lazeer's attention.

Hazaar didn't tap his brother on the arm, or kick him in the ankle, or knock his elbow into his ribs—instead of doing either of them things, he reached his arm back, to behind his chair, then swung it forward. Lazeer was fast in pulling forward, and in yelling, after the palm of his hand was felt as slapping the back of his head.

"Ow, Hazaar!" Lazeer yelled before wrapping his hands around the back of his head. "What the hell was that for? That hurt!"

"Hah-zar, that is _not_ something you do at the table." Angel chided. "You alright, Lazie?"

"Dunno... think I'll need to hire a lawyer in a few minutes." Lazeer replied.

"You're going to take me to court for slapping you on the back of the head?" Hazaar sniffed. "You'll never win—you'll find yourself, and your lawyer, laughed right out of the building."

"You assaulted me!" Lazeer snapped.

"I'm your brother," Hazaar said smugly. "I have rights in driving you crazy, and in hitting you from time to time."

"I'll remember that the next time you run over to ma saying that I kicked you in the ah—"

"Hazaar, Lazeer, that's enough." TazirVile said.

They did so; the steely looks, that they were getting from Duru, Shaam, and Trobrencus, caused most of their interest in cutting up dissipate while their father's command did the rest. The atmosphere, that was present at the table, had grown very different—the presence of someone new at the table was part of this while the food that was now being made, and then placed on the table, was the rest. Grandma Ashaklar and Aunt Qeeta hadn't been available to help their mother in making that night's meal... while Bahne's assistance was the same she had been aided by Irka, who had taken Ashaklar and Qeeta's place that evening. Bahne and Irka had done "the honors" of making the main course that most of the Surfeits were eating while their mother was the one responsible for making what he and his siblings, and their parents and the Ubalki's, were eating.

The food, that they had been subjected to either eat or look at during meal hour, had changed after Bahne got here; with her helping their mother in the kitchen, the menu for most of the day's meals had changed. The good-smelling, savory, and delicious foods had been changed for something like that out of a nightmare—if he had to make a comparison to what they had been forced to either eat or look at when meal hour came by these last four days, he'd have to say that the banquet scene from the 1984 movie, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, was it.

The bugs were either poorly cooked, normally cooked, or overly cooked; the innards had either been cooked intact in the insects or they had been removed and then replaced with a sort of mush that had a better than pungent odor to it. The meat was, again, either poorly, normally, or overly cooked and that went double for the vegetables—Dara Dara, being a "veggie eater", was concerning herself more over the vegetable items than the meat and insects that were available on the table. Pitchers of dark liquid, that had a sort of mist flowing from them, or a normal beverage that more than wet the whistle, completed the meal that was on the table.

As if the current menu wasn't bad enough, they, for the last four days, had been forced to hear all sorts of crunching and slurping sounds from most of the people that they dined with. The idea of their asking everyone if manners were non-existent in the realm that they were in had crossed their minds on several occasions—it was only by the skim of their teeth, and their knowing that they'd be hurting a lot of feelings, and making a lot of people angry, that the question hadn't been asked.

A tray of rather well-sauced baby back ribs had been made and then placed on the table that evening; their mother was the chef to thank for this, and for the bowls of mashed and baked potatoes, green beans, and for the bowl of salad. Surprisingly, Trobrencus had three of the baby back ribs on his plate—it was only through their quiet observation that they had found him as having black and yellow, rotten and rotting teeth; they were all prepared for him to jump up after diving down for the first bite of the rib that he took up. Teeth either being pulled or dropping from their accustomed places in his mouth; blood either dripping down the man's chin, or spurting all over the place; and the man's screams of anguish over his poorly made choice in taking up and then eating a baby back rib was what they imagined would happen after that first bite was taken.

None of this happened. The man's teeth stayed in his mouth, and his blood didn't wash down his chin or splash against either everyone or the room's walls and floor, and no screams were emitted. The bite was taken, then the act of that bite being chewed before being swallowed followed, then another bite was done.

The act of hearing everyone crunching and slurping their food down did as it usually did—he, his siblings, and their parents were forced into both ignoring what they were hearing and go on in eating what was on their plates. It was during this process of theirs that KurukVile spoke.

"I was looking for you earlier." the man said after wiping his mouth with a napkin and then sitting still and straight in his chair. He gave his brother his full attention. "Wanted to ask how much it was you spent on the two items that my son destroyed this afternoon. You get a replacement for them yet?"

"For the glass, no." TazirVile replied. "An exact replacement for the case was gotten two hours after he was found and then brought in and treated for his injuries."

"How much was spent on the two items?" KurukVile asked.

"Twenty-one hundred for the glass; five hundred for the case."

A man's wallet was sacred... depending on the man, it was either as or nearly as sacred as his balls were—for him, the value of both was equal. One gave him the ability to continue making his family grow while the other gave him the ability to spend money on that growing family; he had no qualms about taking his wallet out from its stationed pocket or in having to take what was required to be taken from it... but he did have a qualm with his young son's actions earlier. The afternoon activity, that happened between his son and his younger brother's son, should never of happened—Baruk, while being raised to be a conqueror, should know better than to destroy items that were owned by others.

The wallet that he was taking a decent-sized wad of cash from was made of genuine black leather; the interior had blue stitching on it. There were all sorts of credit cards—for specific stores in the M-51 Galaxy, and for certain stores that were in his conquered realms—in his wallet and there were also two Universal Cards that had a lifespan of five years in it too—these could be used in any store, or business, out there; he usually only used them when he was out on business. Unless he was out on business, or was purchasing a specific something for either his wife or children, he didn't use the cards; he was quite content with using the paper-money that was in the wallet.

Like Tazir, he was rich—but, in comparison, Tazir had gained his wealth after his first conquest while his had been gained over two to three conquests. Most of his wealth had come from the destruction of the two planets that were known as Tyche and Ceres—after conquering them, then destroying them, he had issued the command for the ships in his militia to do a scoop of their orbit; well over a centimillion in gold dust and debris had been collected in three weeks time after the two planets were destroyed. The conquest of the Wycos and Vulcan Galaxies, and of the planet Oot, had given him well over a million in revenue while his conquest of the Ergots Galaxy had given him nearly triple that—and on an hourly basis at that, so he was pretty well to-do cash-wise.

After taking the wad of cash from the wallet, then counting out the amount needed to reimburse his brother with, he stood then went to the table's head; while he felt no remorse, or pull of the heart, over having to give his brother the $2,600 that he had counted out he did feel a certain tug of anger swell within him after it was given over. Baruk hadn't gotten off easy after the events of what happened between he and Lazeer were told to him—the belt had been taken to him, then he had been yelled at, then he had been grounded for two weeks. If he so much as heard of the kid going on with his bullying of the others that were in the house, he was to get an extra two weeks added to what was already tacked on him.

After giving his brother the money, then turning to return to his chair, he noticed that something was going on between Angel and her oldest son. After turning his head just a bit, he managed to catch her giving the boy a small, cardboard box—he was fast in wondering two things after seeing what was going on between the two of them: where had the box come from and what was in it?

"What're you giving to Bile, Angel?" he asked after reaching and then sitting in his chair.

"The necklace that your son destroyed." his granddaughter replied. "Was able to find an exact replacement for it when I went—"

"I really do wish that you'd stop going to that planet, Angel." DuruVile was fast in saying. "Regardless of your going to get a replacement for something that my grandson destroyed, you need to quit going to that planet. I worry enough about waking and then finding that you've skipped out on us again."

"I return, don't I? You don't need—"

"Doesn't matter." DuruVile was both harsh, yet gentle, in cutting her off. "I'll still worry regardless of your coming back."

Irka gave her head a slow nod; her husband, she knew, was doing the same thing—though silently instead of in public. Kuruk, since day one of their arrival to her brother-in-law's place, was getting up after everyone was in bed and was asleep for the night—he didn't get up to go to the bathroom, or to grab a glass of water, or to check on a mare that was expected to foal soon; the only reason to why he was getting up from bed was to check on Angel and her children. He, after leaving and then being gone for up to twenty to twenty-five minutes, would return either being happy and nerve-free or nervous.

"What's wrong?" she remembered asking him on the first night of their being in Tazir's place. Her husband had come into their given bedroom chamber being all nervous; after sitting himself on the foot of their given bed, he had simply stared at the wall. It had taken her two more times in asking him what she had before he finally sighed and then answered it.

"She wasn't with Tazir... When I went down to check into Tazir's chamber, to see if he and Angel were doing okay, and if Angel was with him, I found his chamber as having just him in it."

"Is Angel in the house?"

"Yeah—on the third level... sleeping in the room that's beside Eshal's own."

It had taken around twenty years before Angel was allowed to go anywhere without having either Tazir or one of his Goblins being her escort; after trust was gained, and it was known that she wasn't going to take the kids and then run from them again, she had been allowed to venture out on her own, and with no husband or Goblin being at her side to either keep her company or to keep an eye on her. With her taking the boys, then running off, then being disappeared for sixteen hundred years, the trust that she had gained in them was gone—they still loved her... that would never go away, or become less in value, but the trust and faith that she had gained in them was gone. She, along with everyone else, knew that it was going to take a while for that to return.

"She has a lot of people around her, so she won't have the chance to run off again." she thought while going back to her meal.

That was what she thought; for her, the mother-in-law of the woman who had "stolen" her precious boy from her, she thought otherwise. While she, Cyla Surfeit, wasn't as close to Angel as Irka and Kuruk were she was close enough to feel the same way as her daughter-in-law did about the trust that the members at the table expressed towards Angel.

Duru, since day one of their being in the residence, was doing something similar to what Kuruk was doing; like Kuruk, he was leaving their given chamber at night but, unlike Kuruk, he was just going down to check on Angel instead of on both Angel and her sons. The man, after returning to their room, would either find her as being awake and waiting for him or would find her as being asleep—if the former was found, he'd report what he found while, if the latter was found, he'd just get back into bed and then go back to sleep. Over the last couple of days, she had been begging Tazir to either say a spell or give Angel a potion that'd prevent her from teleporting anywhere—the man, though claiming to understand her concern, always came back as saying that he'd do neither.

"The kids aren't being taken with her, and she's returning after going on each trip, so no one has anything to worry about." the man had said yesterday, after her last session in begging him to stop Angel from leaving the house and planet was done. "There's a lot of eyes on her, and there's a lot of ears listening in on any conversations that she has, so there's double insurance on her not going anywhere."

Even though this was true, she still worried about her going off with the kids again; Duru must agree with her on this—every day, after finishing the task of dressing himself, and then getting his issues in the bathroom squared away, he grabbed a small mirror that had a spell worked on it and then put it on himself. He'd glance at this mirror every thirty to thirty-five minutes—along with her location, Angel was always shown on the mirror when it was taken from his pocket and then held to his eye.

From what she was able to tell, Shaam was also expressing a bit of concern towards the members of their family that had recently been returned to them—but in a different light and way, though. While Kuruk was more concerned about where Angel and her sons were, and while Duru was more concerned with where Angel was, Shaam was concerning himself with just the whereabouts of Angel's sons. For the last week, the man, after tracking down, and then finding one of the people that he was looking for, would stop and then talk to the one that he had found—he'd do this several times a day; it was only around meal hour, and when everyone was going to bed, that he stopped doing it.

As far as she knew, Trobrencus, and the mature members of his family, weren't doing as Shaam, Duru, and Kuruk were. They seemed to be very cool and calm, which was both a surprise and a shock at the same time.

Tazir, she knew, was spending more and more time with his sons; while this was good she was particularly worried about his involvement with Angel. The last thing she wanted was for Angel to be neglected, or to feel neglected, and then grow emotional over it—she might well grab the kids and then run, or do something that would make her and her children become unsettle. Angel needed Tazir as much as her children needed her—since their arrival, it seemed that Angel was spending more and more time with her sons than with Eshal, which also gave her cause to be concerned. She worried, and a great deal too, about her concocting some sort of plan with them that revolved around their leaving the planet.

While she wasn't as close to Angel as her husband, and their oldest son, were she was still close enough to be concerned for her and to feel herself as being empty whenever her whereabouts weren't known.

After her son was seated, and after Bile's unknown gift was received, and after the members of her family returned to their meal, she grabbed her fork then started in on the slab of grilled snake steak that was on her plate. The chunk that she had just taken from her steak was no more put in her mouth before one of Tazir's servants entered the room.

"Miss me already? Been only twenty minutes, my good man." TrobrencusVile said after the Goblin came into his line of sight.

"What is it, Losal?" TazirVile said to his butler.

"Sir, Mr. and Mrs. Bedali, and their family, have just arrived." Losal replied.

"Bedali? My good man, if you desire one as fine as me, there's a bed upstairs—the dining room isn't appropriate for such activities." after saying this, he turned to look at his wife. "Am I right my dear wife?"

"You are, and it's not very comfortable either." Bahne answered.

"Kashira and Bushon with Miss. Ladira... I haven't seen them three in a while now." ShaamVile said. "Looking forward to seeing them when they get down."

Like with learning that the Ubalki's had given birth to more children during her and her children's absence she had been surprised after both learning and then seeing the two youngsters that Trobrencus and Bahne had had after she and her sons left the planet. It was a great shock to her that the Surfeit family hadn't gone on with their lives after she and her sons relocated to Earth—instead of going on to have more children, or marry, or conquer other worlds, they had been very focused on finding her and her sons; Trobrencus and Bahne, and Bushon and Kashira, seemed to be the only ones in the family to go on with their lives.

Even though Trobrencus's words could be harmful to one of their age, the two children that he had helped in making were laughing about them; even though Bahne had carried, and then given birth to all of the children that her husband had sired, she only had three that looked like her. The other six had taken more after Trobrencus in appearance.

The child that was sitting to the left of Bahne was her and her husband's youngest daughter; Varaxcan was her name, she was said to be around four hundred and sixty-three years old. While she didn't have a bi-colored body she did have her father's hair—along with being long, and straight, it was a dark purple color. Her skin was quite pale; her eyes, from a distance, looked very spot-on to her father's—it was only when one got to within an arm's reach of her that they saw what color her eyes were. The sclera in her eyes was light red while the irises and pupils were a creamy color. The three, loose patches of flesh, that were on her face, paired well with the red, flaky patches of skin that were on her chin. Like her father, she had blood-like facial markings coming down from under her eyes—but, unlike her father, who's under-eye facial markings were a plain red color, hers were a dark red color.

While the design on her shirt and pants was different—there were all sorts of stars and spots on her shirt while her pants had nothing but stripes on them—she was very nicely dressed in nothing but gray.

"Take 'em to town, dad!" the youngster, that was beside Varaxcan, said. Except for his having a pug-like nose, and solid green eyes, and light purple hair, he looked a great deal like his father. The child's name was ImpubVile Yhamikor Surfeit; he was said to be seven hundred and thirty-four years old.

"Yeah, and give 'um a good kick in the rear." TralisaVile Veonim, the granddaughter of Trobrencus and Bahne, who was seated two down from Bahne, cheered. Tralisa, as she was called by everyone who knew her, looked like her father most—her body was a little on the chunky side, and was very roach-like in appearance; she had a small, stub-like nose in her face; and her light brown feelers and antennae were tied together with a piece of pink rawhide. Her hair, while long, and while resembling that of her father's, had purple and yellow strands in it. It hadn't taken her long to realize that the girl's eyes had come from her grandfather—except for their being light yellow and orange, they resembled his. Even though she had been born a few days before Syamsin, she was his exact age.

"Calm down now." Tralisa's mother, who was seated directly beside Bahne, said.

BenociVile Bajinia Surfeit, the fraternal twin of Celobra, who was around two to three minutes older than Celobra, was fast in getting her daughter to calm down; her husband, on the other hand, made the motion in telling her to let the girl do as she was, which caused a small fight to happen between the two. Benoci, or Beenie, as she was sometimes called by the ones that were both in her family and that knew her, looked like a near-perfect combination of her parents. Her face was shaped like Trobrencus's while her hair was both long, half-wavy, and uniquely colored—the left side of her hair was purple while the right was a dark cream color. The irises in her eyes were light purple while the sclera and pupils were red. Her nails were long, manicured, and a dark cream color. The few flakes of flesh, that were on her face, were a dark red color; her left arm was the only part of her body that had a loose patch of flesh on it.

The black dress, that she was wearing, hugged against her body tight enough to expose some of her curves; the matching heels, that were on her feet, gave her five foot, six inch physique an extra inch or two. The personality that was exhibited by both her and her sister was different—while Celobra was more open with others, and was more on the talkative side, her sister was shy and spoke only when she either felt a need to do so or when she was spoken to. Like her sister, she only had one child.

"Thank you, Losal." TazirVile said before waving his hand. When the Goblin turned to leave, Angel was able to see that he was glad to be dismissed—Mr. Khrelan, along with not getting along with Trobrencus, didn't like how the man was acting around him. Losal was married, and had a few kids, and was fully straight; she knew that he was only putting up with Trobrencus's antics because he was on the job and because he was both a member of his employer's family and was to be in the mansion for a while.

"The movie that you was watching earlier, what was it?" BenociVile asked her father after the Goblin left room.

"Something that Angel brought back from her recent trip to Earth." TrobrencusVile replied. "Just yesterday, before lunch was served, I took her to the side then asked if she'd be so kind as to bring me some of the planet's more known flicks back. About two hours after I asked her to do that for me, I found a small box before the chamber that your mother and I were given."

"Which of what I brought back did you watch?" Angel asked.

The Exorcist—definitely not a flick that my family will be seeing anytime soon."

"Scary, daddy?" CelobraVile asked timidly.

"Yes, tis my dear daughter." the man ate some of what was on his plate before going on to say more. "It's scary enough to make you, your mother, and your siblings not want to sleep for a month."

"What version was it?" Bile asked. "The original or—"

"The 1973 version, Bile." Angel answered quickly.

"Like that version better than the o—"

The sound of utensils coming in contact with glass was heard after Trobrencus's fork and knife dropped from the hands that they were in; Trobrencus was fast in wiping his mouth with a napkin before speaking on what he had just heard.

"You've seen... Angel, you haven't been letting your kids view such... such..." the man's hand tapped the table as he struggled to find the word that he wanted to use. "brutality! The flick that I viewed earlier is enough to scar a child of their age for life!"

Bile smiled—of course he, and his brothers, had seen the likes of the classic horror movies that were still rather popular in today's crowd. His first taste of the classics had come from when he had been eight hundred and fifty-six—the neighbor, being a horror buff, but who was keen in not locking his door after going out to do whatever, had never found who or what was responsible for shuffling or displacing his horror movies or for taking his horror movies. He had stayed up until four, watching such classics as The Exorcist, The Omen, The Amityville Horror, and Hellraiser; about a week to two weeks after he saw them films, he went into the same apartment to both return what he had taken and lift four more—Predator, Slumber Party Massacre II, Cujo, and Ice Cream Man was what he had taken on that trip. Unlike the first batch of films that he had taken from the apartment, he had kept those.

Before going off to Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic, he had "tricked" Hazaar and Lazeer into watching Cujo and Ice Cream Man with him. Hazaar had grown fearful of the big-breed dogs for a few months before calming down after seeing Cujo while Lazeer had never asked for their mother to call the local ice cream van to stop whenever it was seen as making its rounds on their street after seeing Ice Cream Man.

He and his brothers had seen many of the old classics, and their numerous remakes and reboots; while his two, younger brothers had long since gotten over the fears that the films that they had seen had created in them he was always looking for a film that'd put a scare on them. While Lhaklar wasn't all that easy to scare with the movies that were either the classics or were newly made he was easy to gross out—he had learned this after sneaking a copy of Two Girls, One Cup from the Green River library one day; Lhaklar, after being hustled into watching the disc's contents, hadn't spoken to him for three days. The same thing had happened after he hustled him into watching the 2007 black comedy horror film, Teeth.

"Along with the originals, we've seen all of the remakes and reboots." Bile said. His mother had been about to say the same but he had beat her to the punch. "We're use to them."

"I'd be careful of what you let them watch, Angel. Such flicks, like the ones that you brought back from your recent trip to Earth, can harm the minds of one their age." TrobrencusVile remarked.

"What all did she bring back from her recent escape?" DuruVile asked Trobrencus. "I'm curious, humor me please."

"The box that was found at my and Bahne's chamber's doorstep had thirty flicks in it." TrobrencusVile replied.

"You going to watch all of them features?" it seemed that even Duru had a different word for 'movie'.

"Not all at once—come by after supper... I'll loan a few to you."

"Will do." DuruVile said before turning his attention to Angel. "So, besides the features, and the necklace for Bile, what all did you bring back?"

"Nothing else but a few newspapers." Angel replied.

"Newspapers? Why did you bring back—"

"After what happened at my and my sons' old apartment, I want to keep up with the events that are going on." Angel said. "My birth planet, remember?"

"And mine." Bile added.

"With what you've just told me, you've given me great concern now, Girl." DuruVile said. He was about to say more when a family of five entered the room; instead of speaking more on the subject that was being spoken about, he clamped his mouth shut then turned to take in the ones who had come into the room. It took him just two seconds to go from being "concerned" to happy after seeing who it was. "Kashie! Well I'll be..."

The family consisted of two, mature adults and a child that looked to be in her upper teenage years; the two, little ones, that were standing behind the man, looked rather young. Due to the mature woman's appearance, he was fast in thinking that both she and the children were related to his grandfather.

Her ears were slightly elongated, and were a predominant, light pink color; while no Tiger-like stripes were present on them they did have a series of spots on them that were a dark to medium-pink color. Like Duru, the woman's face was evenly split in color—the left was a dark pink color while the right was dark brown. Her eyes were a glowing purple color; the pupils, that were in them, were a bright green color. He, after leaning back, to see her and her family a little better, saw that she possessed a rather strange body build—her arms were long and pencil-like in structure while her body was both sturdy and worm-like in appearance. The hair, that was on her head, flowed down to her shoulders; it was an odd, tawny-brown color that didn't mesh well with the colors of her body. She was wearing a pair of blue pants, that had light green stripes going down their sides, and a light blue blouse that was arm-less; going by the pink sapphire ring, that was on the ring finger of her left hand, he guessed that she was the mature man's wife.

The man that was with the family looked a little bored and mean; his body, while being sturdy, and long and thin, had a good amount of muscle on it. The face was tough in appearance, and had a rather long, and gruesome-looking, scar on its right cheek—it was really this, and this alone, that gave him the impression that the man was mean. The nose was humanoid in appearance but, rather curiously, it had two crescent-like openings on either side of it; the eyes were, again, humanoid—or, at least they were in shape; the iris and sclera were a bright green color while the pupils were light green.

At first, he thought that the man had a dark red skin complexion then, when he looked down at his hands and wrists, and saw that their palms and undersides were a lightish red color, he got the idea that the man's inner arms, legs, and front-side weren't dark red. The white t-shirt looked rather normal while the black pants and shoes didn't—both were of the formal sort, which didn't seem to match the shirt. While the man had no belt around his waist he did have a gold band around the ring finger of his left hand—his wedding band, he presumed.

While no one in the family spoke after Duru's attention was absorbed in them the man did step forward; this action caused him to think that he was injured—the man's limp, though being slight, was quite prominent.

"Looks like we're disturbing a meal here," the man said. Hazaar sized the man up quickly before sitting back in the chair that he was now a very frequent user of.

"No, not at all. Take a seat then grab some grub." TazirVile, who had taken to standing up after the family entered the room, said. "I see that you and Kashira have two young ones with you—you two had more?"

"Yes," the woman that Hazaar figured was Kashira replied. Though slow, she did go to the table and then pick out a place for her and her family to sit at. "Two boys."

"I'll be damned!" DuruVile exclaimed. He stood then rounded the table; he went right for Kashira after reaching the side of the table that she and her family were on. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

With the family being closer now, and having picked the side of the table that he and his family were on to dine on, it wasn't very hard for him to take them in; when he glanced at the older of the family's three children, he saw that she was very pretty. Her hair was both long and brunette in color; the eyes, that were in her face, were red and were almost like flashlight beams; her body, while resembling that of both of her parents, was quite petite in appearance. She had a height of five foot, three and a half inches. She had a full, light pink skin complexion; there were no ears present on her. Her blue and black, tie-die dress was floor-length and had long sleeves on it; her shoes matched the dress well. Except for the silver and red bracelet, that was on her right wrist, she had no jewelry on; this went double for her wearing makeup.

Duru made his rounds with the family; he hugged Kashira, then the older of her three children, then he made a sound as he stuck his hand out for the mature man to shake. After acknowledging them three people, he went to see the two boys.

"Who's this?" DuruVile asked.

"Sekton, he's three hundred and twelve." Kashira replied.

"How come I wasn't told about these two?" DuruVile asked while bending down to give Sekton a hug. Sekton, while looking like the still unnamed man, had a pattern on his body that was very spot-like; the pupils that were in his glowing purple eyes were the brightest of green. Sekton gave Duru a shy hug before sliding over to his older sister's side.

"We called numerous times... each time we called, we got one of your staff, who said that you and your family weren't home." Kashira explained. "You, and your family, weren't able to be reached when I went into labor, or when the boys were born, either."

"I was never told about your attempts in trying to call me about them." DuruVile said. "I've not heard a thing from neither you or your husband for y—"

"We figured that you didn't want to have anything to do with us," Kashira said. "we—"

"Since we kept getting your staff on the horn, and since they kept telling us that you and your family were busy, we figured that you was giving us the signal to stay away." the man said.

"Nonsense, Bushon! The event of these two's conception, and then birth, was an important one—you should of bombarded my number with calls!" DuruVile spat in the now-named man's direction. After spitting at the man, he softened his features then went to see the other boy. "Who's this fine young man?"

"Wyir," Bushon replied. Except for his having orange hair, and glowing orange eyes, the one that was now being hugged looked like his father. "He's our youngest at two hundred and nine."

"Miss. Ladira is looking more and more beautiful with each day... how old is she now?" DuruVile asked after hugging Wyir.

"Twenty-seven hundred, poppy." the couple's oldest child answered.

"You two keep a good eye on this one—the girls produced by the Surfeit line are always very fine and beautiful." DuruVile said of Ladira. "No great-great grandchildren now—don't you dare think about doing anything until you're over twenty thousand years of age."

"Agreed." Bushon nodded his head. "We've already had the talk with Ladira, so we have no fears on her doing that or on her having a kid before her body's fully mature." after saying this, he turned to look at the ones that were on his and his family's side of the table. After looking at Bile, Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer, his eyes grew wide. "Those are _not_ the children that Angel Irene bore are they?"

Adults were sometimes childish in telling the things that others told them, and that were meant to be kept private between themselves and the ones that they spoke to; all while she introduced her sons to the Bedali's, then had the Bedali's introduced to them, she worried about Bushon spilling the beans on their telephone conducted conversation, which occurred several hours ago. While, back in the day, she had known Bushon moderately well she didn't know him for squat now, so she had really stuck her foot in her mouth by giving his number a call and then disclosing her problem with him. She hoped that he'd not speak of what they had spoken about and she hoped that he was still the same old Bushon that she remembered.

After introducing her sons to Bushon and his family, then having Bushon and his family introduced to them, she re-took her seat then went on with her meal. The room was quiet for a decent stretch of time before someone decided to speak.

"What all in newsprint did you bring back?" DananVile Surfeit, the oldest daughter and child of Trobrencus and Bahne, asked.

"Just the major ones—three in total." Angel replied.

"Anything in them that's worth the trouble in getting them?" DananVile asked.

"Of course," Angel answered. "There's several articles on the weather, and on the planet's general politics and sports—the latter two I could really care less for, and I didn't really pay much attention to them when I came to them. There's also an article in each paper about me and my sons."

Lhaklar was fast in looking at the one who had just asked about the three papers that his mother had brought back from her most recent trip to Earth; even though she was attractive, he found himself as being more interested in the newspapers than in her.

DananVile, who went by Danan by her family and friends, was another near-perfect combination of her parents. Her creamy blonde hair was very wavy at the moment; her heart-shaped face had a small splash of makeup on its cheeks and lips; and her figure was as hourglass as could be—this had all come from her mother. Like her father, she was bi-colored—her left side was green while her right side was an orange-cream color. The small flecks of discolored flesh, that were on her cheeks, had, without a doubt, come from her father. Except for their irises, which were a light red color, her eyes had a heavy resemblance to those owned by her father.

Danan was a full fifty years older than the one who was seated beside her; DazassVile Surfeit, who went by plain Dazass by just about everyone that knew her, looked nothing like her older sister. It was very evident that Bahne had dominated in the creation of her second child—Dazass had a light tan skin complexion, that was nearly, completely devoid of discoloring, and she had solid blue eyes and creamy blonde hair. It was just the sides of her neck, and the backs of her hands, that had discolored flecks of flesh on them. Surprisingly, she was two inches shorter than her mother.

After taking in these two women, he turned then looked through the small crack of space that Bile was making available to him. After being "allowed" to see his mother, he spoke to her.

"What's happening on Earth, mom?" he asked.

"A lot of snow storms have happened over the last couple of weeks—most of the western states of North America are under five feet of snow. It's pretty well frozen up in several areas—there's a lot of reports going on about people experiencing busted water and gas pipes; a lot of people are without power too. Ten ranchers, who supply most of North America's markets with beef, have lost nearly all of their herds—the price of meat is expected to go up because of that." Angel reported.

"Sounds like you five were taken from the planet just in time." TazirVile said.

"Are Earth's cold seasons always like that?" Dara Dara asked.

"It usually is bad in the western states of North America, and in Canada." Angel replied. "Until this season, all of Europe was experiencing a dry spell—about a quarter of Europe is blanketed in nearly ten feet of snow; England, Britain, Ireland, and Scotland have been getting lots of rain while Africa and Egypt have been abnormally dry for almost ten years now. Most of Egypt and Africa are now abandoned... been so for nearly seven years."

"Damn," Triskull breathed.

It was on the tip of his tongue to ask her about the events that were going on in and around the town of Granite, which was located in the county of Chaffee, which was in the state of Colorado; with all that he had gone through over the last week to week and a half, he was curious about what was going on in the location and, furthermore, if any sightings of who he had seen in his bathroom mirror were being made. At the last possible second, he bit his tongue then went on with eating his meal—he feared ridicule, and being called crazy, and having everyone ask if his brain had made the decision to make a trip to Looney Lane; with all that he had experienced over the near-two weeks, he was close to saying that he was going crazy.

The precursor to what he was experiencing occurred on the day of his and Bile's fight; after falling into an unconscious state, he had found himself as dreaming something that was almost similar to what Bile experienced. Upon waking up, he had wondered what he had dreamed and, furthermore, who it had been that he had seen at the near-conclusion of the dream. The two days that followed his and Bile's fight had been issue-free for him while the ones that followed had been a bit... well, crazy for him. After going down to his father's library, then grabbing two to three books from the stationed shelves, then returning to his room, he had started hearing sounds coming from the bathroom that was connected to his bedroom—instead of exploring these sounds, and finding what and where they were stemming from, he had ignored them. This happened for two straight days before, finally, he got the nerve to get up and then see what was going on in the room that he took his showers and emptied his bladder in.

After seeing what he had in his bathroom mirror, he had started making more trips to his father's library—books on mirror warping, and on mirror-made illusions and mirages, and on how one could use a mirror for non-basic reasons had been searched for and then collected and then read.

According to them books, an image seen in a mirror, that wasn't drawn up by the one who owned that mirror, could be caused by one or two things: one's imagination or someone tampering with the glass to create a scene that may or may not be happening or that may or may not of happened in the past. After reading that both sides of a mirror would be used if a spell was being used to distort the mirror to the user's desire he had gone to see if both sides of his mirror had the scene that he was seeing on them—with his seeing that it was just one side of his bathroom's stationed mirror that had the played out scene on it, he had sighed and then said that his imagination had run itself aground on him.

"Felt fine and dandy for about five days... The scene kept playing itself out, and I ignored it... or, at least until it started playing at night, and grew to such a high volume that I wasn't able to sleep." he thought.

Though sleep on the twenty-ninth of December was hard to come by he had managed to get in a few hours; after getting up from bed, then going to the bathroom, then starting the task of brushing his teeth, he had seen the glass of his bathroom mirror warp—up to that moment, the scene had just formed and then played itself in a continuous loop, and it had been quite foggy and near indistinguishable too. On that morning, he had seen the scene manifest itself in his mirror; he had seen around a quarter of it before finishing what he was doing and then leaving to go downstairs. Oddly enough, the scene had stopped being heard, and had stopped playing itself out on his mirror, after he left the room that the mirror was in. Upon returning to the room at around lunch-hour on the same day, then going into the bathroom to see if the scene was back or if he had seen something that wasn't really happening, he had found the scene as making a return and then resuming itself from where it had left off.

The landscape was white, and quite full of snow; the two to three deer, that had been in its center, had looked a little on the reluctant side to move forward; and the area was deathly quiet. The sound of a twig snapping had sent the deer racing off, and had sent most of the area's birds flying in every direction; after the twig was snapped, a Mountain Lion ambled into the area. The animal, while having a good color to its tawny-brown fur, had looked to be a little under the weather—while looking to have some weight on it it had still looked poorly; the ribs had been able to be seen while the hips were just barely poking out from the flesh that they were under. The Mountain Lion, after ambling to where the deer were, then stopping to stand still and quiet, had moved off to where the just snow-cleared road was—it had only just reached within five or so yards of the road when the snow beneath it erupted up and then a form grabbed and then started battling it.

His initial thought, after seeing the animal being attacked, was that a bear had been waiting for it to amble by. After realizing that it was December, and that bears were hibernating, he had come under the belief that he was seeing one of the fabled Bigfoot creatures—they were still being reported, and in a degree of colors and shapes and sizes too. The creature that was attacking the Mountain Lion had been black from the head on down to the waist; rather curiously, the waist on down was a medium-blue color. The snow-covered creature, after leaping up from its created cover, had wrapped its arms around the Lion and then started wrestling it—a great big ol' fight had happened, which had looked to be going in the lion's favor for a while; the lion, while looking poor in body condition, had not desired to go down without fighting first.

The attacker had gained a lot of injuries to himself, and had looked to be tiring, at the time of the battle's conclusion—instead of biting the animal, like he had figured it would, it had jabbed its hand into the animal's chest. The Lion, after making a coughing sound, had slumped; its attacker, after throwing it from him, had dropped to his side and then lie there—he had stayed on the ground for a while before getting up and then going towards the animal. After the mirror's projected image pulled in, to show who it was that he had watched, he had gasped and then turned to flee the room.

"Didn't go back to see if what I had seen was real until after supper was eaten."

The same scene had played for him; instead of running from the bathroom, then putting a false security on himself in saying that what he had seen was nothing but his imagination playing tricks on him, he had watched the entire thing.

The Mountain Lion's attacker, after grabbing the animal by its tail, had stood up tall and then moved off towards the trees; he had dragged the animal for nearly thirty yards before stopping and then turning to pick it up. The guy had carried the downed animal past a bunch of bushes, then past several, tall trees, then across a river that was nearly, completely frozen over in certain areas, before stopping at a makeshift camp.

 _Welcome to Granite Colorado_ ; that was what the sign, that was behind the sheet that was thrown over a few ice-covered branches, said, and that was what gave him the want in wanting to know if anything in that location was going on that was abnormal.

The guy, after reaching his camp, had gone to work on his kill; no worries had been placed on his shoulder, chest, and bicep-oriented injuries... he had just concerned himself with his kill. After skinning the animal of its fur, then taking the items that he wanted from it, he had made himself a fire and then grabbed a nearby stick—a piece of meat had been placed on that stick before being held over the fire. All while the guy was cooking what was on the stick, he had been getting a good look at him—and had been comparing him to what Bile had seen in the dream that he had become more than a little freaked out over.

Almost everything clicked with what Bile had seen. The skin was midnight black in color; the eyes were shaped like scalene triangles, and were a glowing yellow color; and he was very strongly built. The hoodie—or, at least the remnants of one—had masked the man's facial features well, so all he had been able to see were his eyes. That was really it on what he was able to compare with what his brother saw—Bile had said nothing about the man wearing a series of chains around his neck, shoulders, and waist, and he had said nothing on what type of clothing he was wearing. The heavy-duty pair of mountain or combat boots had looked a bit overused to him while the pair of black jeans looked about ready for the trash; the man had worn no shirt, so he had been able to see all of the muscle that he had on his top half.

With this being noted, he had started freaking out; here he was, watching some scene unfold in his mirror, and comparing the man that was in the scene with the one that Bile had seen on December 15. At the time of his turning to leave his bathroom, he had seen that the man had a set of cracked, dark gray fingernails—the thumb on the left hand, rather curiously, had looked to sport an injury of some sort on it.

Before leaving the room, then going downstairs to do an attempt in convincing himself that what he was seeing wasn't real, he had seen the man as sighing and then standing up; most of his kill had been covered in snow before he turned then went towards the town that was close to his camp. His mirror, after the man went in the direction of the town of Granite, had returned to looking like a normal mirror just before his exit of his bedroom's adjacent bathroom occurred.

"With me not being able to relieve myself of that scene, which continued to play-out in my bathroom mirror, I grew to being very nervous... I wanted to be around my mother more than being on my own after it continued to be seen in my mirror."

The scene was almost like a broken record in being played over and over again for the next two to three days before, finally, stopping—even though he had sighed after it stopped being playing he had still taken a towel with him; a guy just couldn't use the bathroom comfortably while a scene like what was continuously being played on his mirror was happening. On the day after Trobrencus, and his family's arrival, he had gotten such a spook that caused him to no longer want to use his bathroom again.

He had been on his bed, making out a list of things that he wanted for the newly arrived month of January, and listening to some Ray Charles, when the sound of someone yelling for him was heard. It had been small, and he had come close to discarding it, until finally deciding to get up and then go downstairs to see if he was being called—after seeing that no one was calling for him, he had returned to his room and then resumed his prior task. The song of Can't Stop Loving You had just started playing, and he had just gotten through with making his list, when the sound of someone yelling for him was heard again—only, this time, it had been louder, and it had seemed to be coming from his bathroom.

Instead of checking to see if who was calling him was outside his room, he had gotten up and then gone to his bathroom; the tall, rectangular mirror, that was over the faux gold sink, that was on a single, country-made French vanity, was what he had looked at after he entered the room. His mouth had dropped, and his eyes had just about bugged from their sockets, after what was in the mirror was seen.

"The scene of the darkly-colored man conducting a better than dangerous hunt wasn't being played... instead, I saw the man himself."

The black, shadow-like face was seen; the remnants of the man's hoodie were seen; a small part of the man's shoulders and chest was seen... just the sight of these things had made his blood run cold. He had come close to slapping himself in the face after seeing what he had—no attempt on his part was made to convince himself that what he was seeing wasn't real... there was just no way in hell that what he had seen was his imagination playing tricks on him.

Just the sight of what he had seen had been enough to make him take two quick steps back; he had only just hitched in breath to yell for someone to come into his room, and see what he was seeing, when the man in his mirror spoke.

"If I recall correc-k-tly, you are the more ma-k-ture of my bruders," the man had said in a low, nasally-sounding voice. The crack of one who was either entering, or near-exiting, or in the middle of puberty had been unmistakable; just hearing the man talk, and hearing that crack in his voice, had caused the muscles in his body to stiffen. "Think you can pass mum a messa-k-ge for me? She keeps running-k from me and I don't know wh... hey!"

Instead of staying, and playing chat with the man in the mirror, he had turned and then fled both the bathroom and then his room. The day following this mad event, he had learned that what he had seen wasn't something that he had thought up or imagined—after brushing his teeth, then dropping his head to spit his mouth's contents in the sink's basin, he had seen the man as forming in his mirror. A gasp had come from him then he had high-tailed it from the room; the habit of his taking a towel into the bathroom that he chose to use, and of not using his bedroom's adjacent bathroom, was resumed afterwards. Until he finally got the guts to spill what he had experienced, he was planning on continuing with these two, new habits of his—while he had a feeling that Lazeer was experiencing or had experienced something similar to what he experienced he didn't feel like going to him or seeing what was up with him or confiding in him what was going on with him.

"Been noticing that you're spending more time with the boys," DuruVile said to his secondborn son. "You training them or—"

"No. Just spending time with them—getting to know them and getting close." TazirVile replied.

"Have you done any training sessions with the boys?" ShaamVile asked. When TazirVile shook his head, he said, "Very neglectful of you, Lad. You need to know where they are in their training then you—"

"My sons are very nicely trained." Angel said. "I've done well in getting them to the stage that they're in. The only thing that they can't do in their powers is the clear abilities."

"Okay then," ShaamVile cleared his throat before speaking again. "Last I heard, you can't do that of our main powers—allow for me, or my son, to teach both you and your sons that ability of ours. Tazir too, Lass."

"Teach me then I'll go on to teach my sons, and Tazir, what I've learned."

The act of her asking for either Shaam or Duru to teach her the clear abilities of the Elemental powers instead of to both her, her sons, and Tazir caused a rift to happen between her and her great-great grandfather. Unbeknown to Shaam, she had her reasons in not wanting either he or his son to teach her sons the techniques and side-abilities that one with Elemental powers could do—she had seen a reel of film where Shaam was training his son once... Shaam had been quite hard and rough in that film; along with not letting Duru get use to his powers, or grow use to the sensations that they gave when they were used, he had attacked him as a way to make him use his powers without fear and without double-guessing them. She had also seen Shaam as taking a stick to his son after his son started running from his training techniques. The last thing she wanted was for her sons to be rushed in their training and she definitely didn't want them to get hurt or grow fearful of their powers.

Like Irka, and Cyla, she didn't much trust the people that she had been returned to; like them, it was going to take her a while to build up the trust that she had formerly had with them.

When Shaam continued to express his interest in having either himself or his son take on her sons as their prodigies she grew angry then said that neither of them were to train them; even after telling the man that she had trained them well, and as far as she could, and that she was fine with where they currently stood with their powers, and even though she told him about her also teaching them the art of using a sword, and that they were fine swordsmen, he called her bluff. The act of his requesting a Power Trail, where her sons would be forced into showing what they had learned so everyone could see for themselves where they were in their training, was where her cap was blown.

"Why do they need trails when my husband, my grandfather, and your son have seen them use their powers?" she demanded after cooling down enough to speak without yelling.

"And myself," Angel was fast in looking at Trobrencus, who's plate was around half-so clear of food and who was leaning back in his chair rather contentedly. "I've seen them use their powers, Shaam. Both on the day that Hazaar was seen and on the day that what occurred in the parking lot of that store happened."

"We—that's me, my father, and Blaiga—actually saw them training in the location where they were attacked by Baruk, Gaajah, and Bohir." Amadh struggled for just a second to come up with the locations name. "Uh, Sweeney Ranch, I think it was called."

"What he said is true. We did see them spar in that location, and they did seem to be well-trained in both their powers and with a sword." Cheshire said after reaching over to place his hand on his son's shoulder. "Angel's done well in training them."

"We still need to know where they are in their training." ShaamVile insisted.

Before Shaam could start in on her sons' training, and on what everyone had seen them do in both their powers and with a sword, Trobrencus issued out the command for him to shut up—this caused a fight to happen between the two men before Shaam backed down and then did as he was told. Bushon and his family were allowed to eat what they placed on their plates; normal conversation was resumed at the table; and normal sights and sounds were taken in before the signal for everyone to get up and then disperse in different directions was given.

Angel, after the signal was given for everyone to leave the table, collected her sons then went in the opposite direction that everyone else seemed to be going in—she was frustrated and annoyed over hearing her attempts in training her sons, and readying them for adulthood, being challenged by one who obviously didn't care about how much she had slaved to ready her children for the day when their powers and sword-based skills would be needed.

Bile, though annoyed over seeing his mother being challenged, was actually holding out a hope that a trail would be done—he'd love to teach Shaam's ass a lesson and prove a bunch of people wrong on what all he knew and didn't know in the process.

Lhaklar thought none on the challenge issued to his mother; he just stayed at her side and followed her to wherever she went. Lazeer, who was on her other side, was half interested in a trail being done while Hazaar, who was fast in making a trip to one of the house's many bathrooms, was very for a trail being done.

Bile followed his mother, and his two, younger brothers, to the second level before separating from them; while his mother, and Lhaklar and Lazeer, went into the room that she and the old man slept in he went up to the third level. Before going down the hallway that was on that level, he opened the box that he was given then looked at its contents—ma had done him well; the box, while having an exact replacement for the Eagle Claw necklace in it, also had a tiger tooth pendant in it. The note, that was underneath the tiger tooth necklace, was swiftly removed and then read after it was seen.

 _Not sure when I'll be going to Earth again; I made a trip to a few stores, and got a few things for you and your brothers, and your sister, while being on the planet. I'll be busy for a while after supper's consumed—can you keep an eye on Lhaklar and Lazeer until I make a return? ~ Love, Mom_

Though fully agreeing to do so he, at first, wanted to see what all was gotten for him; after going into his bedroom, then seeing the box, that was on his bed, he went to it then started sifting through its contents. A catalog on knives, a poster, and three resin model kits were found as being in the box—while the model of the Kothoga Relic Movie Monster was cool, and while the model of the zombie horse was awesome, he found himself as really looking forward to putting together the one of the six-headed dragon. After seeing the models, then unrolling the poster—it was a still from the 1997 film, The Addams Family and, in fact, it was of Anjelica Huston's portrayed character of Morticia Addams, who was standing before a fern-like plant with a pair of scissors in-hand—, he left his room to see if his mother's request for him to watch after Lhaklar and Lazeer was still desired to be done.


	30. Chapter 30

He did his usual after the clock, that was on the room's bedside table, went off—his hand was placed on it, which promptly shut it off, then he sat up. After a few seconds passed, he swung his legs—long, like his daddy's had been when he had been living—from the bed then got up; the act of his dropping to the floor and then doing a round of a hundred push-ups occurred after he was out of bed.

The black and gray, checkered carpet rose and fell with each push-up that he did then, after he was done with that routine, he rolled over to do two hundred pull-ups; the light gray ceiling was seen as coming towards him, then the matching walls were seen as rushing at him before falling away from him, with each pull-up that he did. After feeling himself as being half-so awake, and after feeling that his blood and muscles were flowing like they normally should, he got up from the floor then went to the room's stationed bathroom—once the hot water that flew from the shower's faucet hit him, the final act of his waking from his sleep occurred. Thoughts of the last two days cascaded through his mind while he cleaned his body of its night sweats and liquids, as did his opinions on them thoughts.

"Duru never did come around to the chamber for the flicks that he was interested in."

Upon going down to the level that his nephew's son was on, he had found him as pacing the room that he and his wife had been given to reside in; conversation on what occurred in the dining room, between Angel and Shaam, and Shaam not getting as he wanted in having the opportunity in training her sons, had been going on between the two of them. After making a trip down to the second level, he had found himself as finding Shaam doing the same thing—he and Kuruk had been talking, and the conversation between them hadn't been pleasant or cool in any degree.

"The mood between the three—Duru and Cyla, and Shaam—was much the same the following morning. Shaam tried to get Angel to relinquish Tazir of his given duty in training the boys and he got no where and fast... and he just about fell to pieces when he found himself as not getting what he wanted."

Most of January 7 had been decent; no bad actions between the kids, or negative reactions between any of the adults, occurred. Everyone had just let Bushon and Kashira, and their kids, settle in. The day following had been very different—it had been discovered that Angel went to Earth during the night of the seventh; on the morning of the eighth, she had distributed all that she had retrieved from Earth to the ones that she had gotten them items for.

Duru had found himself as getting a book that charted the various monkey species that were found on the planet; a container of discs, that looked to be about either monkeys or lizards, had also been retrieved for him. Duru, instead of thanking Angel for her generously gotten and then given gifts, had grown raving mad about them— _I should burn everything that's on that bed then go see if she's truly lost her mind_ was what the man had been saying when he had come across him in his given chamber. Cyla, while knitting something at the time, had also looked rather angered over the gifts that had been given to her husband.

Shaam was a right big fan of shrunken heads—a severed and specially prepared head that was commonly used for trade or ritual or trophy purposes—and he had found himself as finding a few of them items waiting for him before his chamber. Had his nephew been elated over the gifts, or thanked Angel for her trouble in getting them for him? No. The two female heads—one having red hair while the other having blonde—and the two male heads—one being bald while the other having all sorts of sticks and bones in its skull and cheeks—had been seen as lying either on the foot of the man's given bed, or lying, all casual like, on the floor. The book, that chronicled the practice of shrunken heads, had been found as lying half-open near the room's bar. Seeing that had shocked him; Shaam was usually one to cherish Angel's company, and the gifts that she gave him... this was definitely not like the man at all.

The only ones who hadn't reacted in a negative way to their given gifts were Kuruk and Irka and he and Bahne. Kuruk had found himself as finding a box that had a black and purple ombre dress, a jarred specimen of a weird-toothed parasitic worm, and a container of a preserved Anemone Sea Spider in it while he and Bahne had found a box that had some items that they weren't expecting inside. The jarred kitten, that had a small mouth and only one eye, was cool while the set of Skeleton pens was rather interesting; Bahne had found herself to be quite fond of the black and pink blouse and the two necklaces that had also been found in the box. As far as he knew, everyone had gotten something from Angel yesterday—what all it had been that had been received he didn't know; he just knew that some who had found themselves as getting something from Angel hadn't reacted well to their given gifts or to the meaning behind them.

"After seeing what I did, I tracked Angel down then told her to not bother in getting anyone anything from her future-done trips to Earth."

While he and Bahne were a little nervous about Angel going to Earth they weren't as nervous as everyone else was; the girl was returning, and she was thinking of others during her trips, and her sons weren't going with her, so there was no reason for everyone to be going crazy over her conducted trips to the planet. Instead of growing concerned, and then nervous, about Angel's trips to Earth they were worried and nervous about something else that Angel was doing—just yesterday, after coming upon her to tell her to not worry herself about bringing anyone in the house something from Earth when she makes her next trip to the planet, he had found her as having five drawstring bands in her hand that had a small vial of red liquid on them.

Seeing Angel, and her four sons, wearing them items a few hours later had caused both him and Bahne to elope to a part of the house that no one seemed to be very interested in going to; conversation on his seeing Angel as having them necklaces on her when he went to tell her to not get or bring anyone anything from her next trip to Earth and then on their seeing Angel and her sons wearing them necklaces had happened after they reached that part of the house.

"A lot's been going on these last few weeks... Maybe she brewed one of them protection-based potions, then put it in five, small jars, then put them jars on drawstrings, as a way to ward off everyone who's been putting stress on her and her sons' shoulders?" Bahne had suggested.

Maybe that was it but, deep down in his gut, he had a feeling that it wasn't. Though still meaning to try to get things under control in the house, and trying to keep the adult members of his family down, and get them to control their rowdy kids, he was now planning on keeping a close eye on Angel and her kids—they were his family, and he loved them, and didn't want to see them be hurt in any way, and he was definitely now worried about them.

Most of the people in the house had seen and done the quiet talking thing on the necklaces that Angel and her sons were seen as wearing while others had been very loud in voicing their detest of the five wearing what they were—Dara Dara was the leader while Cyla was the next loudest of the lot. Curiously, Bushon was being very quiet and non-concerned on the matter of Angel and her sons wearing the necklaces.

"Just because we're worried and a little nervous about them doesn't mean that we're to become like everyone else, though." he came close to saying after shutting the shower's water off.

After leaving the shower, then grabbing the towel that was on the nearby towel rack, he dried himself off then went to grab the robe that was hanging on the bathroom door. Though being a couple of inches too short for him, and being made of a reversible material that was dark brown on the outside and tawny brown on the inside, he couldn't resist the option of wearing or keeping it—it was one of his father's old robes; the one that the man was more known to use, which was also made of a reversible material, but that was a chocolate brown color on the outside and had a leopard-like print on the inside, hadn't been able to be found after he and his wife were found as deceased. After wrapping the robe around himself—the old feeling of his father having worn it one day, a long time ago, was still present in it, which gave him a sense of comfort for knowing that the man was still around in spirit—he left the bathroom then went on to find something to wear.

"No one man's style is similar to another's." he thought after stepping into the room, then seeing the chandelier that was made of nothing but deer antlers. He and his wife had thought the thing ghastly ugly after seeing it; after turning it on, then seeing that the assortment of antlers created all sorts of creepy shadows in the room, his mood towards it changed. Bahne's was still the same, but she wasn't about to voice it, though.

The dresser, that was two to three steps from the bathroom's open doorway, was of the normal, dark walnut variety; the bed's frame matched that while the baroque couch, that had a black leather back, arms, and cushions on it, didn't. He was particularly intrigued by the black vinyl chair, that had all sorts of short spikes on its arms, back, and underside—though not his style, he had still found himself as liking it. The 50", big screen tv, that was on the wall across from the bed's foot, had been turned on two to three times since their arrival to the residence while the Victorian-made, wrought iron lamp, that had a seemingly glass-made shade on it, had been used rather frequently during the night hours before he and his wife decided to drop their lids then go to sleep.

The small spalted maple, kamagong wood box, that was on the bedside table, beside the lamp, was another item that his father had used during his lifetime—though having his allergy medications in it now it had, at one time, contained his father's wedding band, which he had never really worn, and pocket watch, which he had been a frequent user of; like with the robe, it was kept for sentimental reasons. Neither Rosol nor Raal had said nothing about wanting to have the hickory wood trunk, that was by the bed's foot; after seeing that his two brothers didn't want the piece, he had taken it and then started using it—like his father and stepmother, he and his wife used it when they were visiting relatives. All of their more fancy outfits and jewelry-based items were kept in it—it was better this way than to hang everything in a closet, or put in their given bedroom's jewelry box, and then, later on, after they left the residence and then returned home, find that them items were either not on them or had been stolen by one of their host's staff.

Green almost never looked good on him but, seeing as he had already worn a suit of black, blue, gray, and red that week he decided to go on and don the suit that was the darkest of green color. Except for the underwear, which were both briefs and white in color, and the vest, which had a floral design of lime green on it, everything was a brunswick green color. After donning what he did, he went to the closet for one of the five canes that he had brought along on the trip—the cane that he picked had a wenge wood shaft on it; the handle had a silver glass and enamel Eagle head on it. After grabbing these items, then taking note of the time—6:05; his wife wouldn't wake from her slumber for another twenty-five minutes—, he went to grab his phone and then his wallet. These two items had only just been grabbed when the sound of one knocking on the chamber's door was heard.

Bahne, who must of been sleeping rather lightly, was aroused from her sleep by the one who was knocking on the door. He sighed frustratingly, then made the motion for her to stay where she was, then went to see who it was that had dared to knock on the door of his and his wife's given chamber.

"What do you want you ungulate fool?" after opening the door, he saw that a blue-skinned Goblin, who had warts on his cheeks, large brown eyes, and a crooked nose, was standing on its other side. The Goblin, at first, didn't respond to his demand; he gave him a hard, mildly interested look before clearing his throat then going on to do so.

"Master Tazir asked for me to let you and yours know that his wife won't be available for making this morning's meal—she'll be busy, and he has plans to take her and the Young Masters out for breakfast." the Goblin relayed his employer's words. "He wanted to know if you and yours will be joining him or if you'll be sitting the outing out?"

"When was this outing decided on? Where's it planned to be held?" TrobrencusVile asked. Though not one for dining in public he did think that a change in scenery was a good thing for the likes of the TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit family.

"Last night, before going to bed is what I'm told." the Goblin replied. "He, his wife, and the Young Masters wil be busy on the front lawn for an hour or two before everyone's to leave to go to J'Sepp City."

The act of one in his family allowing their offspring to spend time with the offspring of common folk, or with the folk that worked for them, had never meshed well with him. Like Duru, he preferred for the ones in his family to hang around folk of their own caliber—but, of course, he had no say on what one man, or woman, did with their offspring or in who they let their offspring hang around or become friends with. His older, and sadly deceased, brother—Rosol—had thought around the same context as he when it came to the family's offspring spending time with folk of blood that wasn't comparable to their own while Raal, his younger half-brother, who was also sadly deceased, had seemed neutral on the subject.

"We'll see if we can attend." TrobrencusVile said before dismissing the man from his presence.

After dismissing the man, he stood by the open door for a few seconds; it was in him to give out at least one brand of abuse, or insult, or make one in either his or in his host's staff feel uncomfortable after waking and... well, he just couldn't contain himself. He stepped out from his and his wife's given room then addressed the man who was halfway down the hallway.

"Walk with a twist, my good man—work off that breakfast before I work it off for you."

"Enjoy the view, Sir—I have plenty to go around, and that's not just in twisting or turning either." the Goblin said while going down the hallway.

TrobrencusVile blinked his eyes; his given remark—his hint of abuse-giving—had been twisted and then thrown back at him in the way of a flirt. The Goblin hadn't been offended, or annoyed, or had even disclosed any form of frustration over his threat. He stared at the man as he went down the hallway then, after getting over his given shock, he turned then returned to the room that his wife was in. Bahne was up, but she wasn't out of bed just yet; seeing as she was awake, he went to her then sat beside her.

Though he was very expert in both combing and then braiding his hair, he did like for his wife to do the honors of braiding it—his hair was rather unruly right now but, in time, with both his hands using a comb and his wife braiding the back, it would be back to being tame again.

After reaching his wife, then sitting beside her, he gave her a kiss then said good morning to her.

"Elimination Demoniaque... Elimination Demoniaque... Elimination Demoniaque..."

That was what he was thinking while entering the smaller of the house's two kitchens. The two words, which had been said two days ago, were doing more than haunting him—they were almost becoming inter-woven into his life. His employer's wife had said them during a conversation that she had been having over the phone and he, as yet, had heard why they had been brought up.

Hearing them two words had robbed him of his interest in wanting to work proficiently, and of wanting to eat or take any liquids down, and of wanting to spend any time with his family or think of January 9—it had been agreed upon that his two sons, and the sons of Eldass, Losal, and Kalach, would meet their old friends on this day... before leaving his employer's office on the afternoon of the sixth of January, it had been discussed and then agreed upon that the kids that Bile and Lhaklar had become friends with when they had been younger would meet and then have a rekindling of their friendship.

Elimination Demoniaque was a spell used by one who wished to have the demonic presence that was bothering them go away; it was not a spell that one spoke of freely and, in fact, it was only brought up when one was having an issue that revolved around demonic possession or oppression or potential possession or oppression. Normal conversation revolved around topics that didn't regard spells or potions or charms... One would talk of the weather, or of politics, or of what was going on at home; the act of one speaking about potions, spells, and charms would only happen when the area was in dire need, or in near-dire need, of being spoken about. After hearing of the Elimination Demoniaque spell being spoken of between his employer's wife, and Bushon Bedali, and after hearing his employer's wife try to pass it off as being among normal talk, he had come close to wishing that it'd rain or that one or both of his sons would fall ill on the day of their planned meeting with Young Masters Bile and Lhaklar.

No, he still trusted his employer's wife, and her sons, and he was still loyal to them, but he was worried that what was going on with them with whatever was trying, or that could already be on them, to possess them would pass off onto him and his family. The last thing he wanted, and needed, was for both his family and his employer's family to be hurt by some malignant force that meant to both cause trouble and be an unwanted baggage.

"Is that it, dad?" Arenzoar asked after pointing at a rectangular container that was on the room's stationed island.

There were two others beside it, but he and his son were concentrated on the one that had the Homsi Modulavich sticker on it—Mistress Angel, for the last four or five meal periods, had been saving certain items and then putting them in some tupperware containers; the names of Losal Khrelan, Homsi Modulavich, The Zultoa Family, and The Speelin's would either be placed on a sticker or would be written on a piece of tape and then taped to the containers before she left to do other business in the house. He and his co-workers had grown a little spoiled over this act of hers—they appreciated the gesture of her saving certain things from the final meal that was eaten by her family, and they did their best in having their family thank her for what she was doing, and they also did their best in cleaning the containers before returning them to the room that they were found in.

After going to the container that his name was on, he grabbed it then opened it; with his Mistress, and her family, not attending breakfast that morning, and with their having eaten around ten to twenty percent of last evening's meal before growing so annoyed by their family's antics and then leaving to both do something else and calm down, he wasn't expecting to find anything from last night's meal in it. He came close to laughing after the container's lid was lifted—Mistress Angel had gone to Earth on January 7... along with bringing a lot of stuff back for her children she had also brought some stuff back for everyone else too. He was fast in thinking that, with all that happened yesterday, she hadn't had a chance to give what she had gotten for him and his co-workers to them. The container had around ten or so Valomilk candy bars—a piece of candy that had a liquid marshmallow filling in a milk chocolate cup—, and around five or so Three Musketeers, Mounds, and Almond Joy candy bars in it. He had grown fond of them types of candies while being on Earth; the gesture of her getting him what he had grown fond of was greatly appreciated.

The candy bars were spell-sent home then the container was returned to the cabinet that it had formerly been in; with them two tasks done, he took to leading his sons from the room then up to where the employee lounge was—just because the kids were expected to see their old friends that day didn't mean that he wasn't to put his lunch in the employee lounge's refrigerator or say hello to some of his co-workers.

"Mr. Surfeit has a dog now, dad?" Dlahsleon asked after they reached the house's second level, then saw the dog that was doing nothing more than sniffing around while going down the hallway.

All of the animal's shots had been received; Zanra hadn't had any adverse effects to them, but, from what he had heard, she had sure not liked the vet coming near her with the syringes. After the shots were given, and after two dog tags were made and then given over, Master Tazir made a pre-scheduled vet visit for her that was to take place in six months time—the puppy was to be spayed after her first heat cycle came to a close. Trobrencus had done the honors of signing the dog over to Master Tazir on the eve of January 5, so the dog belonged to his employer and his family now.

The collar, that was around the animal's neck, was a pinkish red color, and had two silver tags on it—his employer's family's name, and the address that they lived on, was on one of the tags while the other simply stated the fact that the animal had had all of her shots.

The dog being seen downstairs told him two things. One, that the Young Masters, and Miss. Eshal, were awake, and two, his employer was up and about in the house. Master Tazir had started doing a schedule a few days ago where, almost immediately after he was out of the shower, and then dressed in whatever attire he wanted to wear for the day, he let the dog out to do her business and took up the training pads that were placed in the Young Masters', and Miss. Eshal's, bedrooms—curiously, the puppy was found as neither using the pads or the carpet to lay her stools on; she seemed to be holding her waste in until after being let out.

"Yes—that's Zanra; they've had her for a little over a week." Homsi answered his son's question.

His sons followed him to the employee lounge; they stood by the door as he stashed his lunchbox in the room's placed refrigerator, then as he spoke to the others that were in the room, before receiving their cue to take a seat on the couch that faced the room's tv. The two boys had only just sat down when Kalach Speelin entered the room with his two sons—the three did the same as he and his sons had after entering the room. Eldass Zultoa, who looked a little on the sleepy side, came into the room with three of his sons next; a rather nervous-looking Losal Khrelan, who was closely flanked by his one son, entered the room ten to fifteen minutes after they did.

The order, they knew, was for them to wait until the word was given for them to lead the children outside and then "release" them to do as it was hoped they'd do in seeing, speaking, and then rekindling their old friendship, and gain new ones, with the four boys that were their employer's sons. Seeing as they had nothing to do but "sit" and wait, he and his three co-workers either stood around, thinking their own thoughts, and being on their own, or mingled among either themselves or with the ones that came into the room.

"So much could happen... the Young Masters are taller and stronger than they are, and could well unintentionally hurt them; Arenzoar and Dlahsleon might not get along with the Young Masters, or the Young Masters might not get along with them; or the meeting might go well." Homsi thought while standing around in the room's top left corner. Zanra, rather nonchalantly, wandered into the room after he thought this; she sniffed around, then gave each of the children that were sitting on the room's couches a sniff, and then a look, before turning and then leaving.

Unbeknown to Homsi, he was also nervous about the meeting that was to take place between his sons and the Modulavich, Zultoa, Speelin, and Khrelan children. While trying to tell himself that it was normal, and that it'd go away after everything was started, he still felt nervous and a trifle bit scared about the unknown events that were to take place outside, on the front lawn.

He had only been this nervous twice before in his life—when Eshal went off to Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic and then again when she went off to the University of Telepathy. The task of his having her under his ever-watchful eye was being removed from him; she was to go off to a school that was a distance from him, and she was to have a dorm to live in and have to attend meals with people of her age that she didn't know... it was enough to make any parent, who was sending his first child off to a distant education, nervous. With Angel and the boys being missing, he had also been gripped in a wave of sadness—no children to dote on while the older ones were in school, and no wife to feel nervous with, or to take the edge from his nervousness from him... it had just been him and Eshal back then, and he had barely been speaking to the family then because of his involvement in looking for his wife and sons.

Eshal had been a tormented soul back then; she had missed Angel and the boys just as much as he had and she hadn't wanted to go off to school. Instead of wanting to go to school, and get an education, she had wanted to stay home and with him. It had been with a heavy heart, and a rather guilt and nerve-wracked conscious, that he had sent her off to her two attended schools—the letters and phone calls from her had been many, yes, and she had come close to asking him to come retrieve and then bring her home many times, yes, but he had still missed her and, in a way, wanted her to be back home, where he could resume his prior duty of keeping his eyes glued to her and have her around to take some of the pain that occurred after Angel and the boys left away.

"You're not sending them to the next chapter of their lives, or sending them to school, or waving bye-bye after they've made the decision to move out and then find a place of their own to live in, so quit being so nervous about what's to happen today." he chided himself.

"Bile's so big and powerful... he could unwillingly hurt one of the kids that are slated to see him and his brothers." his conscious started saying. "Lhaklar's tall, and can think of himself as being all big and authoritative when he's not—he could well be too bossy with the ones that are to see him and his brothers, which could cause people to think poorly of him. Hazaar's in deep with the phase—he has a way of losing his temper, and of flying off the handle at just about anything, so he could well create a fight with someone then tarnish his reputation with that someone, or with a bunch of someones. Lazeer's rather energetic, and can be a bit too funny at times—he could well hurt someone's feelings by his joke-like mannerisms; with his going through the Temperamental phase as well, he could well grow emotional, or tempered, with the ones around him."

"They'll do fine." he said to himself. "They'll conduct themselves well and they'll make friends in the process."

Last night's meal! What fine way to get his mind from the event that was about to take place—instead of thinking about an event that could become a good one in the lives of his sons he was to think of one that hadn't gone as well as he had hoped it would.

Three of his sisters—Whosla and Bekla, who were older than he was, and Vaiba, who was younger than he was—and their spouses had come by for their stay; Angel, who had taken a trip to Earth sometime during the night hours of January 7, had grown rather depressed over not getting them anything while they had just been overjoyed in seeing her and the boys. Instead of Whosla and Zebyr, Bekla and Keibo, and Vaiba and Majeer having a pleasant arrival, like Bushon and his family had experienced, they had experienced first-hand the events that were currently going on in his home.

Angel, sometime between the final meal of January 6 and the morning of January 8, had made a series of necklaces for her and the boys; after donning them, then walking around with them being on their person, they had met with some criticism. Cyla and Dara Dara were plain clawing at them for the removal of them necklaces while his father, grandfather, and Kuruk seemed confused, hurt, and curious about their being on them. Kashira seemed to be trying to keep her kids from Angel and the boys while Bushon was being just as quiet as could be when they were around him. Triskull had made a few crude comments on the necklaces before going quiet on them while most of the house's kids were either being very vocal or were acting like they wanted to either tear the necklaces from the necks that they were worn on or keep the ones that were wearing them at a far distance from them. His mother and stepfather, and their kids, and Qeeta were the only ones that seemed to be fine about the necklaces being worn by Angel and the boys. He, honestly, had no remarks or comments on the necklaces being worn—Angel, he thought, had grown tired of everyone's abuse and annoying antics and had made a potion that she had figured would protect her and the boys from the ones in their family that meant them harm. Trobrencus and his family, rather curiously, were acting concerned for Angel and the boys now—up to them necklaces being worn, the family had been acting in a normal way towards Angel and the boys; now, they seemed to be keeping a better than good eye on them.

With Cyla and Dara Dara, and Baruk, Kaasa, and Uevaa, all clambering up and down Angel and the boys' backs yesterday about the necklaces, and with his grandfather and father snapping at Angel for her trip to Earth, and about the gifts that she had brought back for everyone, he had issued the command for everyone to shut up and either leave the table or eat what was on their plates—Angel and the boys, who had obviously had enough of the family's shenanigans, had done the latter while most everyone else had done the former.

A jarred specimen of a bat's foot, and of a preserved albino baby bat, had been given to him while Eshal had found herself as getting a few dresses and jewelry; the boys had found themselves as getting either a model or a poster of some sort; and everyone else had either gotten some trinket or an item that could be worn or placed in the house as a sort of decoration—of the people given gifts, around half of the house's inhabitants had scoffed at the gesture bestowed upon them, which had done more than hurt his wife's feelings.

Eshal loved the dresses and jewelry that she had been given, and she had done more than thank her mother for her gesture in thinking of her during her recent trip to Earth, and he loved the two items that he had been given; why couldn't the others in the house be like he and Eshal? The boys had done their usual in thanking their mother, and in behaving themselves to enjoy what they had been given, while a majority of the youngsters in the house hadn't—Baruk and his siblings had given their gifts to their parents while Gaajah and his siblings had destroyed theirs; the kids and grandkids of Trobrencus and Bahne had enjoyed their gifts, as had the Ubalki kids, while Bushon and Kashira's kids had looked both surprised and half-interested in theirs.

Just about everyone still had their heads stuck in the past—yes, Angel had disappeared with the boys for sixteen hundred years but she had done so with a purpose, so no one should be treating her in the way that they were, and the boys should definitely not be subjected to being bullied or harassed by the visiting kids either. His wife, while taking trips to the place that she had been residing at for them sixteen hundred years, was returning after each trip was done—and she wasn't gone for hours or days at a time; at most, she was gone thirty minutes to an hour. If she was leaving to go to Earth, and was staying on Earth for two to three hours, or days, before returning, he would be concerned and he would put his foot down on her putting a stop to going to the planet—a husband had to let his consort have some time to herself; he shouldn't be ringing out countless orders, or preventing her from going to wherever she wanted to go to, or treat her like a servant or maid. Respect was needed to be given and, dammit, he was giving it and more to his wife, and to the four boys that she had either birthed to him or that she had birthed and he had adopted.

"Woke up earlier than usual this morning—both of us, and at five." he thought after feeling himself as growing angered. "Did a bit of "fooling around" in the shower before leaving and then going to get dressed."

Course, he and she could of had sex last night, or on the night preceding last night; instead of doing so, they had gone to bed and then gone to sleep—the "quickie" in the shower this morning was both a shock and a surprise to him... still! He was glad to note that the magazines, and his "hand puppets", were to never be used again—he had his wife back, and they could do things that married couples were suppose to do that didn't involve "puppets" or magazines. After doing what they did in the shower, he decided to let her dress him.

"There you go sexy," she said after he was dressed in a gray striped tuxedo and shoes, and after his goggled glasses were placed over his eyes. He, in response to her given words, had smiled at her. "You're ready for work now."

"I should give you the command to remove it all from me—you and me, get in that bed now; time to get serious! You're to remain in that bed for a while." he had joked. Her response of touching his chin had made him smile again.

"When's the date for when I do the implant of kid number four?" the wink was given, then his ass was squeezed, then she turned to get herself dressed for the day.

Instead of staying to watch her get dressed, and to see the amulet, that was still present around her neck, remain on her, he had left the room to let Zanra outside and then to check the messages that had been left during the night hours. After them two tasks were done, he placed a call to Olok Gzujus—the request for him to make his rounds in letting everyone know that he and his wouldn't be available for breakfast, and for him to be a "pest" to Trobrencus, had been made before the phone was returned to its handle.

Olok, being gay, was the best choice of his butlers to fit the shoes of being a pest to Trobrencus, who was giving just about everyone in his staff grief with either his flirts, his cane, or with his abuseful actions. With Olok being given the order to make himself "available" to Trobrencus—meaning, to work in or around the man whenever he saw opportunity to do so—he had made the trek to the third level. Bushon and his family had been given some of the rooms on that level to inhabit and, with Ladira, Sekton, and Wyir acting a little "off" about Angel's given gifts, he had wanted to do a small pop-in to check on them. After seeing that they were still asleep, and after seeing that everyone else was also asleep in the house, he went down to his office, where he was still at.

"Nothing bad happened between Whosla, Bekla, Vaiba, and their husbands, and my wife and sons." he thought while trying to pass the time away by simply re-reading the mail that had been received yesterday afternoon.

Bushon, Zebyr Verobari—Whosla's husband—, and Keibo Sebatu—Bekla's husband—had all taken their turns in going into the boys' rooms and then giving them a once-over before leaving; except for saying that the boys seemed to be a little too grown up, they had said nothing negative about what they had seen. After Whosla, Bekla, Vaiba, and Kashira entered the rooms, then took in their contents, they had tracked him down and then told him to keep an eye on the boys and on what all they were being allowed to look at and own—again, no negativity had been expressed with them, so they were showing respect. Vaiba and Kashira had actually been all for the boys having their game systems; according to them, the systems were a good outlet for them to expel their frustrations, stresses, and nervousness on. Naturally, Eshal was spending time with Ladira and, naturally, Sekton and Wyir were spending time with Qhuakiz.

"If all goes well, and there's no fights or disagreements between the boys and the Modulavich, Zultoa, Speelin, and Khrelan children, me and my family, and anyone who wishes to come along with us, will be going to a restaurant in J'Sepp city—we'll have a good, pleasant meal, that won't be interrupted by familial disputes or gang-ons, and we'll also see some new scenery." he thought after the dial on the clocks inched towards the time where the boys, and Eshal, would be getting up.

While her husband, and Homsi, were fretting over what was to happen that morning she was perfectly confident in her sons behaving themselves and in not causing any fights or injuring anyone that they were scheduled to meet and, possibly, become friends with. While waiting for her sons to snap their alarms off, then get dressed for the day, she thought about her not being allowed to make the jarred potion that she and her sons were wearing and about her finally making it to the Potion chamber and then making them. With Lhaklar and Lazeer not wanting to leave her side for a second, and with Shaam voicing his "desire" in having her sons do a trail on their powers, then be trained by either him or Duru, she had just not felt up to the task of making the potion. She had put it off until returning from her trip to Earth—where no one would bother her, or question what she was doing, and where she'd not have two of her sons flanking her like shadows.

The task of finding where the chamber was had been easy—it was on the first level, and on the hallway that branched to the right of the one that ran into the foyer. After reaching the room, then opening its door and going in, she had stopped to gawk at what she was seeing.

Tazir's modern, and modestly Gothic, style was very prominent in the house while, in the room, it wasn't; the room that she had gone to was made almost entirely of stone—the floor and walls on up to the ceiling were stone while the room's decor was made of wood, that was complete with dust. After standing in place, looking at the room, and wondering if she wasn't awake or was seeing something that wasn't real, she went forward to do the task that she was there to do.

The ingredients for the Protection Potion had been fast in being found—a spoon of pixie dust, the tail of a lizard, Troll tears, and the crystals that came from a pig's piss had all been dumped into the cauldron, then the pit that the cauldron was hovered over was lit, then she started stirring. After the brew went from being brown to purple she stopped stirring then went to find five, small jars and some drawstring bands that they could hang from; when the potion was poured into the jars, she was forced to wait five or so minutes for it to change from being purple to red before being able to place a cap to the jars and then giving them five shakes a-piece. After the potion was made, and was equally divided into five jars, and was then placed on a drawstring, she went to bed. When the morning of January 8 came around, she set to work in taking the potions up and then taking them to her sons—Trobrencus had slowed her up to tell her to not get anyone anything from her next excursion to Earth; instead of being annoyed in having him stall her in her task of taking the potions to her sons, and in doing the spell before the potions were placed around the necks of her and her sons, she had been glad for his being around.

"Felt very... awkward after making this thing, and the ones that my sons are wearing." she thought while fingering the amulet that hung from her neck.

Sleep, after the potion was made, was plagued by dreams of some form waking and then finding himself with both a headache, the shivers, and with a bout of depression; a few hours after she woke up, she, herself, had been plagued with bouts of depression... and anger and betrayal. She had only just stopped the tears from flowing, and had wiped her face of them, when Trobrencus's hand was noted as being placed on her shoulder. After speaking with him, and hearing what he wanted to tell her, she had resumed her task in going up to the third level—her bout of depression, at this time, had been replaced by anger; by the time she called her sons, then had them come to Bile's room and then form a circle, the feeling of betrayal was felt. A hint of nervousness had crept over her during the spell's doing—it had caused her to stop doing the spell twice—then she had grown rather dizzy and, again, depressed after it was done and after the amulet was slid around her neck.

The jarred potion was suppose to make her feel safe, and was suppose to make forces that meant her harm go away—she definitely didn't feel safe with it on! If anything, she felt totally and utterly vulnerable thanks to its presence being on her. She felt like she had just hurt someone's feelings, or had caused someone great harm by doing what she had—Bushon had said for her and her sons to wear the amulet for a month... with what she had felt on the day of it being placed on her, which was still how she felt now, she had a mind to remove and then discard it.

"What happened two hours after the potions were placed around our necks gave me mixed feelings." she thought after taking her hand from the amulet.

Bile had asked to see her; she, who had feared something was up with one or more of her children, had gone up to see what was up—upon reaching his room, she had seen that Lhaklar was on his bed and that he was more than a little emotional. Lhaklar had told her a wild tale of what all he was seeing in his bathroom—or, more specifically, his bathroom mirror. After hearing him talk of the scene that was continuously being played out to him, and about the black-skinned guy making an appearance in his mirror, and talking to him, she had made the motion to go to his room to see if what he was telling her was true. Lhaklar and Bile had followed her, and had seen the events that happened after she went into the room's adjacent bathroom and then tore the towel that was over the mirror away.

Instead of seeing a scene being played out in the mirror, or the man himself as being in the mirror, the mirror had cracked and then shattered—the glass had shot at her; if not for her hands being held before herself, she would of gotten some nasty cuts to her face. She had been fast in fixing her hands up—in using the medicine that was in her son's bathroom, and in using her powers to heal herself, and in saying a spell that'd mask the cuts that weren't able to be healed—then she had taken her son to the side. Bile had done the honors of fixing the mirror up while she comforted Lhaklar.

Lhaklar, being as shaken up as he was, had asked if he could sleep in Bile's bedroom after his mirror went in the way it did; Bile, being the sport that he was, had said yes—she, who was on the level that their chambers were on, was able to see that he had upheld his promise in letting his brother sleep in the room that he had been given to inhabit. Lhaklar had taken some clothes with him to the chamber last night, and had gotten dressed in the chamber that he was allowed to take up the night in; when he left the room, she saw that he looked to of gotten around half of a good night's sleep. Bile, on the other hand, looked well rested.

"You two look well rested." Angel said after her two sons reached her.

"Best sleep that I've had in a while." Lhaklar confided.

"Except for his snoring for half the night, had a decent sleep." Bile said.

"Man, don't give me that! When we were rooming together, I had to deal with you mumbling... and with the occasional farts that you gave off." Lhaklar snickered before going on to imitate the "mumbles" that his brother gave off during the night hours.

"Are you wearing the—" she stopped after the amulets were lifted from their shirts. "Keep them on. They're suppose to stay on us for a month—that means, don't remove them for anything."

"You mean we have to shower with these things on us!" Bile exclaimed.

"Yes dear, even when you shower." Angel said.

He and Lazeer, after they left their rooms, showed their amulets to their mother then went down the hall; he didn't know about his mother, or his brothers, but he felt rather safe and confused about the item that was around his neck. While the feeling of being safe was normal and natural the one of confusion wasn't. After the spell was finally said, and after the amulet was placed around his neck, he had found himself as feeling somewhat saddened—the pop that he had heard, followed by the startled gasp, had caused him to both blink and take one to two steps from the circle that he and his family had made. Where had the pop, and the gasp, come from and had his family heard it too? The rest of the day had gone well; he had heard no more strange sounds, or encountered anything strange. He had just gone by his way before hitting the sack and then going to sleep.

The confusion, for him, was still there while the bit on his being saddened was gone, thank the Gods on the latter.

He led the way down the hall, then down the stairs, then halfway down the hallway that was on the house's second level before stopping and then letting the one who had just come out from the level's office take over in taking them to wherever they were to go. While he and his brothers knew that something was to happen that morning they didn't know exactly what that something was—he was both looking forward and not looking forward to it.

"Morning boys," TazirVile said after his wife and sons had stopped to let him take over in leading them to where they needed to go. "Today's going to be a bit different than the ones that you've already experienced—don't think any of you will mind the postponement of breakfast; after you see what's in store for you, you'll forget all about your hungers."

The boys did nothing but nod their heads then take up position behind him; he took nothing in their lack of interest in what he had planned for them—they had just gotten up, and their stomachs were rumbling for sustenance, so they had a reason to not be interested in what was to happen that morning.

Angel, after he took to leading his family down the hallway, stepped beside him then asked him a question that he wasn't slow in answering. Eshal was who she was asking about; where was she and was she to take part in what was to happen that morning? Eshal, just last night, had made plans to spend half the day with the Hoolorg twins—the Hoolorg family lived four to five miles down the road; along with having two twin girls, that were his daughter's age, they had two sons that were nearing Hazaar and Lazeer's ages. Pikki and Kaiki Hoolorg had grown friendly with Eshal during their tenure in Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic; the friendship had continued after graduation occurred.

Unlike his father, who preferred for the children of his family to stay among themselves or among the ones that carried blood that was as good or nearly as good as their own, he wasn't about to dissuade his daughter, or his sons, from interacting with children that had blood that was less in value to their own. As a child, he had been kept in almost total isolation from others—it had just been Qeeta, and the kids that his father deemed fit for him to be around, that he had associated himself with. Most, if not all, of his childhood and teenage years had been taken up with his studying, and learning his powers, and trying to stay on his father's good side—as a child, he had been very stressed out; if he didn't get a grade that was up to par to his father's qualifications, or did something in his training that his father didn't like or agree with, or do or say something that his father didn't like or agree with, he could well expect a beating or some sort of discipline being thrown at him.

His inability, back then, to do Elemental powers had earned a lot of discipline and hard feelings from his father, and it had also almost cost him his life on several occasions. One time, when he had been in his early five hundreds, and had been playing in a pile of leaves, his father had come home and then decided to incinerate the leaves as a way to try to get his powers to come out; on another occasion, he had come to be nearly drowned after his father came upon him in the family pool. As a way to make his then-dormant powers become not dormant, he had caused a lot of waves to happen in the pool and then made him go under for around four or five minutes before letting him "drift" up to the surface for air.

His sons weren't about to be disciplined for their inability to do a specific power, or for their saying certain things that he didn't like or agree with, or for their doing certain things that he didn't like or agree with and the chance to socialize with others wasn't about to be taken from them either. It was wise for one to socialize their young, and to allow their young to make friends with others; his sons were to have the same opportunities that the ones that carried peasant blood in their veins had. He wasn't about to let them be overly shy... or be like he had been when he and Gloar met.

Gloar was fifty years younger than he, and he had had a much better upbringing that he had; at the time of their meeting, Gloar was talkative and free-moving while he was more quiet and careful in his movements. The act of his friend dropping his pencil, and then asking if he could be so kind as to retrieve it for him—it had rolled right over to his side of the aisle, and it had stopped to rest right beside his foot—, had been the start of their talking to one another while the act of Gloar finding and then doing the "stalk" routine on him during lunch-hour was the rest of the reason to why their friendship was sparked. He and Gloar had become something akin to study-buddies after their friendship was started, and they had done more than make a point in eating lunch at the same table and spend whatever time they had available around one another. Really, if not for Gloar, he'd be a much different man than what he was now—he'd probably not have his children, or have met his wife, or have the friendships that he had, or be on Moas if not for him.

"Okay... Now, boys," TazirVile turned after finishing his descent of the foyer's right-side stairwell, and then going halfway towards the front door that was before the room's two staircases. "you'll be going out in the front this morning; you're allowed to explore all that you want to but, do please, don't do anything that'll attract too much attention by the reporters—they're all still stationed by the front gate and fence, and they'd just about love to snap any old photograph, or grab any sort of video of you as you do as you wish on the front lawn. If a reporter asks for you to come to the front gate, or to the fence that's on either side of the front gate, don't do so."

"Gotcha." Bile was the only one to speak; the other boys just nodded their heads in acknowledgement of what he had just told them. After seeing them as understanding his words, he went to the door; after unlocking it, then opening it, he turned then beckoned for his family to go out onto the porch. His sons were fast in doing as he was inviting them to do while his wife was a tinge slow in following them. Once everyone was outside, he followed them then turned to close the door.

The first thing that crossed his mind, after he was on the porch, and was feeling the morning breeze hit up against his still-sleepy face, was that the porch looked bigger than what the news depicted it as being. The porch looked to round the house's front on one side while, on the far left side, the boards, that closed it off, were down; it looked like a sort of ramp ran down from the opening that had once been taken up by the boards.

A set of wicker chairs, table, and couch were on either side of the porch; after going down the side of the porch that looked to round the house's front, he saw that it not only did as he thought it did but that, at its very end, there was a swing. When he retracted his steps, then went to the portion of the porch that was to the left of the house, he saw that the ramp ran flush with the artificial blue grass that was also on the front lawn—after seeing the ramp, he pictured its purpose as being for the kids that were born to his parents. He could see Eshal, or Bile or Lhaklar, using the ramp while riding their kiddie bikes or scooters and he could also see his three older siblings using it during their days when the use of their legs was new or not nearly as stable as they were now.

After seeing what he did, he started getting the feeling of his being very alien—he felt as if he didn't belong in the environment that he was in, which made him feel sad. Bile and Lhaklar had either been born or had been babies at the time of their arrival to the mansion; they had been raised for five and six hundred years in this place while he had just been born and then spent four months here. He could see his mother sitting on one of the chairs—she had Bile or Lhaklar at her side, or Hazaar on her lap or in her arms, or she was knitting something while keeping an eye on his sister and brothers—and he could also see his mother sitting on a spread-out blanket, that was on the lawn, while his three, mobile siblings ran around, playing to their hearts content, and while a still-infant Hazaar either slept or took in all that happened around him from one of them baby bouncers.

Was it fair to say that Hazaar was also an alien in this environment? At the time of his being taken from the house, he had been a hundred years old—still a baby, and still not able to get fully involved with the things around him or figure out what this or that was. While he didn't know how his brothers felt he knew that he was growing depressed over this new feeling that he had over his not belonging in the environment that he was in.

"Pssst... Lazeer." he looked up then to the right; Bile, the one who had called him, had already descended the porch. He was on his way to where the porch rounded the far right side of the house. Lhaklar had descended half of the porch's steps before stopping to take in his surroundings while Hazaar was simply standing by the final step of the porch; it was just he, and his parents, who was on the porch.

Lazeer looked over at his mother; she was walking down the porch's left side, and her hand was trailing the railing that was present on the porch. His father had taken to sit on one of the wicker chairs; he looked calm, and content, but he seemed to also have his eyes glued on where Bile was headed.

After descending the porch, he stood beside Hazaar; only when his brother moved did he go forward. The yard had a series of trees in it that either had red, pink, or yellow leaves on them; while the trees were all rather branchy they were either tall or short—one of these trees had a rope swing on it... he was fast in imagining one or both of his older brothers, or Eshal, as using it during their kid-years. The driveway, that had yellow rocks in it, was flanked on both sides by green hedges; the paths, that had the same rocks in them, had a smaller variety of hedges on either side of them. After taking in all of this, he trained his attention to the white fence that ran around a small, red barn—when he swung around Hazaar, to get a better view of the fence and its stationed barn, he saw that the fence was separated in the middle and that another barn was obscured by the other one.

He was just taking in the two barns, and wondering what it was they contained, when two Goblins ran into view. The two men undid the gates that went to the two paddocks then they went to the barns; after undoing the latches that were on the barn doors, then swinging the doors open, he heard the characteristic sounds that sheep and goats made. The two sounds had no more been heard before the animals behind them came out from the two structures that they were contained in.

A species of what he wanted to call pygmy goats and sheep were what came from the two barns; the goats were either a brown or black color but, curiously, they had rather long and either straight or curly hair and a type of small horn that spiraled up instead of curved around or back or to the side. The sheep were either a tawny brown, a golden, a strange greenish, or a gray color and it seemed that only the male animals had a horn structure that curved all the way around their ears. The animals skipped, ran, or walked from their barns then they took to running all around their enclosures as if they hadn't seen the light of day for months—as the sheep did this, he saw that around a quarter of them had panda-like facial markings on their faces; about ten percent had white noses while the rest of the animals had either white or very blue-black faces. The Goblins, after their task in letting the animals free of their barns was done, left the paddocks then went off to do something else; he and Hazaar watched as they went on their way for a small span of seconds before turning their gazes back towards the paddocked animals.

"Good thing Bile rounded the side of the house when they were opening them two barns," Hazaar said after they had started towards and then reached the fence that surrounded the barn that the sheep had been in. "He'd probably love to chase them around."

"Yeah, and I can see the old man snapping at him for doing so." Lazeer commented.

Neither he nor his brother could see Lhaklar chasing after a group of sheep or goats; Bile, though, they could handily see chasing the old man's barn animals—while on Earth, he had a history of doing so. When they had been children, there had been a farm up the road from them that a flock of Fainting goats were known to live in. Bile, being the "thrill-seeker" that he was, had traveled to the farm numerous times just to chase the goats and make them seize up and then "faint"—on one of his trips, he had made nearly all of the farmer's flock seize up and then drop to their sides, and he and Hazaar had been there to witness it and laugh themselves silly about how retarded their brother looked after the farmer came out, yelling his fool head off about his bothering his livestock. The fun, for Bile, had ended on that day; the farmer, being faster than their brother, had run up to their brother, and then grabbed him by his ear, and then pulled him into his house. A quick call to their mother was made after Bile was told to plant it on the farmer's sofa. Ma, though trying to make a joke out of the affair, had understood the farmer's rage and had paid him back for the "trauma" that her son placed on the man's goats.

The next time Bile went to the property to scare the goats, the same thing happened; both he and their mother had been banned from ever going to the property again—Bile, on his first "offense", had been more scared than embarrassed while, on his second "offense, he had been more embarrassed than scared. He had learned a valuable lesson on that day—if you're going to pay nearby farms a visit, make sure that the farmer, and his family, weren't at home before partaking in the action of chasing after the resident goats.

"Come on," Hazaar said after giving his brother's arm a tap.

Momma had said for him to go on and to quick taking her air after he lingered by her side; with Bile and Lhaklar going off to explore the yard, and with Lazeer looking to be exploring the front porch, he had been the only one just standing around at his mother's side. He had a feeling that Bile was heading off to have a smoke and he also had a feeling that Lhaklar, who had made tracks in following him to wherever he was planning on going, had plans to join him in having that smoke. Seeing as they weren't being watched, or didn't have anyone escorting them around, he figured that taking Lazeer to an area where they'd not be seen, or bothered, so they could have a nice, relaxing, peaceful smoke was a good idea to do.

He led his brother past the goat and sheep paddocks then he started down a path that looked to lead to two areas where foliage was growing. After going a ways, they saw that the first area had around four or five cherry blossom-like trees in it; a line of mid-high hedges ran around it. The center of this area had a garden-like pool in it that had all sorts of spouts in it. He was about to pick that area to lead his brother to, and to have a smoke in, when a flash caught his eye—after taking a step towards the area, he decided against using it. A line of reporters, all with cameras in-hand, were standing before the fence that was before the area that the cherry blossom-like trees were in.

Since that area was out, he went on towards the other area that was able to be seen—he was fast in finding out, after reaching to within five yards of this area, that it was also not available for him and his brother.

He saw a sort of long, but half-winding, pool in the area; a sort of island, made of concrete, was in the middle of the pool while, on the outskirts of the pool, there were more mid-high hedges. All sorts of pool-side chairs were around the pool, and he saw around two or three diving boards and a sort of slide too. Sitting to the far front of the pool was a grilling area that had a grill, a cutting block and cleaning station, and two to three concrete picnic tables in it. It was either pool season or the season for when one enjoyed outside pooling was over—a trio of Goblins were standing at poolside; they were either using a long pole, that had a net on one of its ends, or they were fiddling around with the pool cover, that was half-on, half-off the pool. He and his brother took in this sight before moving on down the path that they were on.

"There..." Lazeer stopped after they went about twenty feet down the path then pointed at the area that was to the left of the path that branched from the one that they were on.

Oh yes! The area that his little brother had seen and then pointed out looked ideal for what he had in mind to do.

A row of low shrubs ran around its back while the rest of its periphery was flanked by hedges that were nearly twice the size of the ones that he had seen that morning. The path that ran both around and through the area had blue and gray pebbles in it; he saw two to three wrought iron benches and tables and at least two to three sections where blue-gray water lay. Blue, black and gray, and yellow flowers bobbed in the morning breeze—these were either in the areas where no blue-gray water lay or ran before the hedges—while the leaves of the area's trees were either stationary or were barely moving against the breeze. The gazebo, that was in one of the non blue-gray water containing areas, looked rather old and ominous while the two to three stone picnic tables looked weather-worn but holding up to what they were subjected to on a daily basis.

The area had four to five trees in it that were either very lush and wild or quite tame. The Bonsai-like trees were the tame-looking trees while the two Yew-like trees were very wild and unruly—he and his brother went towards the one that looked to have a pool of blue-gray water around it.

"Stepping stones? There's a row of stepping stone leading up to the tree that we're going towards?" Lazeer asked after seeing the round, circular stones that were both in the water and led up to the tree that he was leading him towards.

"Guess the water's deep enough to have them here." Hazaar commented.

Seeing as the interest in using the stones was there, they used the stepping stones to get to where they wanted to go. When he reached the tree, he pushed its overhanging branches up then went in; the entrance to the tree's underside had no more been done when he heard a gasp and then a splash behind him.

"You idiot!" Hazaar yelled after the water from the pool splashed onto him. When he turned around, he saw that his brother was in the pool; the water came to just above his waist, and had a froth-like appearance to it now.

"What? I slipped on the rocks then fell in." Lazeer said while struggling to get out from the water. After a few seconds of struggling, he said, "This water's pretty deep."

"I hope you swallowed a parasite, or a bacteria, or a frog after you fell in." Hazaar spat. "Look at me! I look like—"

"—you went skinny dipping with your clothes on." Lazeer finished while giving one of his eyes a wink. "That's against the rules of swimming while being naked—you now owe me twenty dollars."

"I owe you a punch in the face and a kick in the ass." Hazaar sniffed.

"Put it on my bill," Lazeer said before looking down to look at the water around him. "Hey! There's fish in here."

"I hope they're Piranha," Hazaar said meanly. "Hope they took a bunch of bites out of you, and made you bleed in several places, and gave you all sorts of diseases."

He ignored his brother's remarks and comments; the feeling of his being a trespasser, which had started being felt at around the time that he and his brother reached the sheep and goat pens, was temporarily gone—now that he had something to look at and explore, he was temporarily freed of his prior feeling of being an alien in the environment that he had been returned to. With something to do staring him in the face, he stopped the task of trying to get out from the water—he looked at the area around him, then at the sky, then he listened to the sounds and took in the smells that he was both hearing and smelling, before feeling something bumping into his ribs.

The fish that he saw, when he looked down, looked quite bizarre. It was snake-like—long and thin, and it had a movement that was very similar to that of a snake—but it had an orange and black coloration to it that resembled a Koi; the fins looks oddly shark-like while the barbels, that were on either side of its mouth, looked like those that'd be found on a catfish. When he put his hand in the water, then grabbed the fish, he got a surprise—it wheeled on him, then snapped its retractable jaws around his wrist. He, at once, shrieked; the fish was yanked from him and then given a better than college professor observation.

It had an Eel-like texture to it, and was around thirteen inches long; the eyes were large, and were orange in color; there was just one nostril, or hole, above the mouth; and the gills numbered eight. Rather surprisingly, it had a pharynx hidden in its mouth—when he yanked the fish from his wrist, he saw that the pharynx had a row of teeth in it. After seeing what he did, he threw the fish behind him then scrambled from the water. He went right for the tree; after disappearing behind its hanging matter, he took note of where his brother was.

"Thanks to your shrieking out there I'll probably have to put this out soon." Hazaar said after gesturing at the Kamal Red Light cigarette, that was currently being held between the index and middle fingers of his right hand.

"Dude! There's some sort of fish that has a pharynx, that has a row of teeth in it, in its mouth in the water." Lazeer said after seeing his brother.

"Baby bro get scared of a fish all of a sudden?" Hazaar said in a sissy way. "You're alive, get over it."

After giving his brother a long, tired look he sighed; the feeling of his being a trespasser returned with a vengeance. He wished that it'd go away and stay away but, deep down inside, he knew that it wouldn't. The feeling would persevere for a while before dissipating.

It was rather cool under the tree; the branches had been cut back to allow for one to stand fully upright and there was a wooden bench and a fire pit, the latter that looked to not be used in ages, either up against the trunk or a foot or so from the trunk. The water came to the outskirts of the tree before stopping; the whole, entire underside of the tree was open and available for one to either walk or sit on. After seeing that there were two to three rocks, that had blue or red-leafed bushes between them, under the tree he went to them; he sat before the medium-sized rock then he leaned his head back.

His head had no more settled against the rock that he was leaning on when he jumped up; the croak, though small, was loud enough to scare the socks from his feet.

Hazaar, after the orange and black striped frog jumped into view, broke into a laughing fit.

"What's wrong baby bro? Scared of a wittle frog now?" he said between laughs.

"I had no idea that it was there." Lazeer said. He felt foolish now; along with seeing plenty of frogs when he had been on Earth he liked frogs. He had owned a few as pets; he had no fears of frogs... it was just the feeling of his being a trespasser, and of his not knowing that it was where it was, that had caused him to be a little on the jumpy side.

After seeing the frog, and where it was heading towards, he went towards it then picked it up. He received a shock five seconds later—after the frog was in his hand, he started feeling a burning sensation; upon opening his hand, and letting the frog go, he saw that it had a reddish-orange substance on it. The frog had, apparently, secreted a substance that had burned through the first one to two layers of the palm of his hand!

Lazeer cursed while going to where the water met with the area that was under the tree; once he was by the water, he plunged his hand into it then started the process of cleaning it of the substance that was on it.

"Just because a frog is big doesn't mean its dangerous—the most poisonous frog on Earth is the Golden Poison frog, and it's quite small. The bright colors that it has on it are the indicators of how poisonous it is." he thought while cleaning his hand.

That type of frog was very well-known in the pet trade; after many generations of breeding, the humans had managed to drop the toxic's value to a much less severe quality so that animal could be sold and then kept as a pet. A few hundred years ago, between his graduating from Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic and his going off to the University of Telepathy, he had owned two Blue poison dart frogs—along with knowing their basic care needs, and knowing how poisonous they were to some, he had used a pair of rubber gloves whenever the need in handling them, or the items that were in their cage, came around. Them frogs, under his care, had lived for around fifteen or so years before perishing of old age. He had also owned a bunch of other species of frogs over the years—like the Blue poison darts, they had lived a good life under his care before perishing from old age.

The frog that he had just had in his hand reminded yet didn't remind him of a poison dart frog; while looking similar in pattern and coloration, and while being the same size as a poison dart frog, it was the fact of it secreting a substance that burned flesh that gave it difference between the poison dart frog.

"Ma's gonna flip!" he exclaimed after taking his hand out from the water and then seeing that its palm had turned a bruised, blue-purple color.

"Why? Because a frog pissed on you." Hazaar asked.

"That damn frog burned me!" Lazeer exclaimed. He showed his brother his hand.

"Shit, is that dye or—"

"It's a bruise... when I grabbed that frog it—"

"I'd use one of your learned healing abilities on it if I were you." the cigarette bounced as he spoke to his brother; about half of it had been smoked. "Wonder what else is under here?"

"If I were you, I'd not touch anything," Lazeer said before dipping his hand back into the water. With his other hand, he started manipulating the water so that his hand would be healed of the bruise that was on it. "Look if you find anything but don't to—"

The scream that came from his brother was loud; his eyes grew wide when he saw what it was that was attached to the back of Lazeer's hand. The thing was rather chunky in appearance, but it was also long and, curiously, covered in either spikes or quills. Lazeer jumped back; after falling to his rump, he got up then started jumping up and down. When he grabbed the fish, he yanked it then tossed it to the ground. He was about to stomp on it when he came in—the fish was "rescued" in the nick of time and then held it up for a brief, but, he viewed, crucial checking.

It almost looked like a Puffer fish; with there being no tail, or side-fins on the thing, and with there being no gills on its sides, he knew that it wasn't one of them types of fish. After using his knife to pry the fish's mouth open, he saw that it had two to three rows of beady, sharp teeth that looked hollow on the inside. After seeing this, he tossed the fish back into the water then went to see what kind of damage it did to his brother's hand.

After grabbing his brother's hand, which was being flailed in every direction, he saw that the bite was both deep and nasty. He peered at the wound, looking to see if there was any sort of liquid besides blood coming from it, then he dropped the hand—by personal opinion, Lazeer's hand was fine. Lazeer was freaked out, as was natural, but he was fine.

"Was that what nabbed you earlier?" Hazaar asked his brother.

"No—that was a different fish." Lazeer answered. "It came out from the rocks... seemed that it had a hole or something that it was either living in or waiting for food to swim by or into."

"Why would the old man have fish like that in a pool like this?" Hazaar wondered aloud. "I mean... this pool is big enough for one to swim in."

"You won't catch me dead swimming in a pool like this!" Lazeer exclaimed. "Not when there's fish in it that have sharp teeth, or that have pharynx-like mouths!"

"How's your hand?" Hazaar asked. The glance that he did a second later answered his question; his brother's hand had turned from being its normal, periwinkle blue color to a whitish-blue color.

"It hurts like hell!" Lazeer exclaimed.

He was concerned for his brother for a second or two before his eye caught something ambling by the bush that was beside the rock that his brother had seated himself before a few seconds ago; after seeing the thing move, he brushed by his brother then went to see what it was.

Ideas of his taking up a snake, or some other creature that could do him harm, ran through his brain for a second before being discarded; while true, he didn't know what all the planet had on it in animal life, and while true, he didn't know what could and couldn't hurt him on the planet, he didn't think that what he was reaching for was a snake or something that could hurt him. His hand, after being placed under the bush, searched for the thing that he had seen for all of five seconds before something rough was felt. After wrapping his hand around the thing, then bringing it out into view, he saw that he had a type of turtle in his hand.

Its shell was an almost perfect circle; there were all sorts of spikes jutting up from it, and it had a very striking, yellow and red pattern on it. The limbs of the animal were long while the tail looked too small for it. He was just turning the animal over, so he could see its belly, when the thing's neck shot out from under its shell; he gasped after seeing the length of the neck, which was almost double the size of the animal, then he dropped the animal—before it could bite him, of course. The animal, after colliding with the ground, gave its short tail one to two wags before zipping its vulnerable parts into the shell that'd give them protection.

"Neat!"

While Lazeer liked frogs he had a fancy for turtles; one time, when he had been a right young kid, he had caught a Spiny softshell turtle and then asked if he could both keep it and call it a pet. He had done well in its care, and it had been happy with him; at the time of the animal's death, it had been nearing forty years old. Hazaar wondered for the thinnest fraction of a second if he could keep the turtle, or ask his father if he'd be allowed to keep it, before the idea of his father saying no and then becoming either enraged or too-concerned over Lazeer's hand—the old coot, while speaking and making the motion in getting to know him better, was still not revered in the way that a normal father would be by him; he was still nervous of him and he still didn't trust him.

After picking the turtle up, then putting it back to where it had been found, he brushed his hands on the sides of his pants then turned to look at his brother. Lazeer's hand, to his great surprise, had become swelled in the time that he had been looking and marveling at the turtle; after seeing the state of his brother's hand, he grabbed his brother then started the process of rushing him out from underneath the tree. The cigarette, that he had been about to finish, was crushed and then burned then a spell that'd cause any smoke-related smells, that were on him, to not be detected was said; the spell had only just been said, and he and Lazeer were only just pushing past the hanging branches of the tree, when their father's call for them, and their brothers, to come to him was heard.

It was like a cruel slap to the face that his footing was lost after his name was heard as being called; his hand loosened from Lazeer, then fell away from him, as he flailed for balance. He yelled in shock, then in horror, as he plummeted into the water that harbored fish that could well hurt a person.

"Bile... Lhaklar... Hazaar... Lazeer!" TazirVile yelled again. After yelling their names, he turned to look at his wife, who was now sitting on the porch steps.

"I forgot to put bells on them this morning," Angel said before turning to acknowledge Homsi and Eldass, who were standing behind her.

Angel looked at the ones who had been brought to interact with her children that morning; there were eight in all, and all were either in or around her sons' ages... she couldn't really wait to see how her sons were going to react to the children. No dissuasion on her part had been done when she had been on Earth; during her sons' childhood years, and the years where they weren't in school, she had been all for their hanging around, and making friends, with the humans in their neighborhood. Her sons had been allowed to play with the neighborhood children, and join in with their gangs, and go to the towns and do things that other children of their age were doing. She was quite confident that her sons were well-socialized and that they'd do well with the meeting that was to take place.

Going by what she had seen, Bile and Lhaklar were probably taking advantage of a set of hedges, or a bush, to have a smoke. Hazaar and Lazeer, it did seem, had been more interested in checking out the yard than in taking time out to smoke one of their stashed cigarettes.

Other than the sheep and goat paddocks, there was the outdoor pool, that had a grilling area attached to it, and the area where there was a shallow pool that a bunch of water jets were stationed. There were a lot of paths both in the front and back yard that led to either specific areas or to no where in particular and there was also the area that her husband called the Man's Lagoon—she was honestly hoping that her sons were staying clear of that. Her husband used "the lagoon" when his male friends were paying him a visit; they'd go to the area, then talk male, or smoke Mogars, or act manly, before returning to the house. While she had taken the area in, and while she thought that it was half-pretty, she knew that she wasn't welcome there—Homsi and Eldass, being friends of her husband's, were allowed there when the occasion came up but she wasn't.

"About a hundred or so years after the Vaisha Galaxy was conquered, he searched out a few species of swamp fish then put them in the area's two water areas. While the species get along, and while they have bred, the numbers haven't grown to the size that he was expecting them to grow to." Eldass had said one day, when she had asked him what all was in the two watery areas of the "lagoon". "While the fish aren't edible, they are useful as a sort of entertainment. Whenever a challenge is given, Master Tazir, and his friends, jump into the water to either fish-out five or so of the animals or see how many of the animals latch on before the time limit's done."

Whoever came out of the water with the most Pufbiters usually got the honor of consuming a beverage that was rare on the planet; the one who left the water with the most Swamprey latched onto their arms or legs would gain the "privilege" of getting $100 for his troubles; while the unlucky soul who left the water with the most Laechums would be allowed to keep what all was suckered to his body. She honestly thought that the "prizes" given to the men who were bitten or found themselves as being preyed upon by the fish were low, but she had never spoken this or tried to get her husband to up the prizes or do something more interesting with his time—his time was his and his alone and she had no right in saying what he did with it.

While she hoped that her sons were well away from the area she knew that it was in their right in exploring it and in, maybe, gaining the experience of what all was kept in it—she just hoped that they weren't fighting, or creating any trouble that the reporters were catching on film or in a photograph.

"There's Bile and Lhaklar." Angel said after looking to the left and seeing that her two, older sons were rounding the porch.

Going off to have a smoke was far from what he had done; after rounding the porch, then walking along, with his hands stuffed in his pockets, he had found a bush big enough to hide him and then crawled under it. After around five or so minutes of thinking, and trying to get over the mixed feelings that he felt over the amulet that he was wearing, he had made the decision to make the box, that his stashed pot was in, appear above ground. He had only just made himself a joint, and had just put it in his mouth, when the bush was noted as moving—instead of seeing his father, or a Goblin, as coming under the bush he had seen his brother instead.

He and Lhaklar had spoken about the amulets that they were wearing, and about the feelings that they were feeling—which were pretty much the same, surprisingly—, all while the joint was passed between them. After the first joint was finished, he made another; Lhaklar had exhumed his box of cigarettes up from the ground and then taken a pack out from it before sending it back to being under the ground. The next ten minutes had been quiet between them.

The option of now journeying out to the front yard was nice, and he liked the fact of his territory growing, but he felt as if there was a secret danger out in this part of the yard that wasn't present in the backyard. The backyard was more closed off, and no one from outside the property's periphery could see it but so well, so he and his brothers had more option of smoking their cigarettes and pot in private—and without worrying about being found and then being narked on about what all they were doing. The front yard, while having foliage in it, didn't have as much foliage as the backyard had so the option of having a smoke while being hidden wasn't very open.

"Lhaklar and I played a lot in this part of the yard." he had thought while trying to forget the mixed feelings of being safe, and angry and depressed, that the amulet was giving him.

Along with riding their bikes in the yard they had also played jungle safari or just plain ran around like they had lost their heads. His elbows, he remembered, had come to being scraped a lot back then; the same went with Lhaklar's knees. On the times where they had played cops and robbers with the hired help's kids, they had sometimes gotten nicks and cuts and bruises from one another—he remembered the time where Arenzoar Modulavich's nose was bloodied after his brother, Dlahsleon, struck his face with a stick, which he had been using as a sort of baton. Man had Mr. Modulavich been mad after seeing Arenzoar's bloody face; though he and his brother hadn't had a part in injuring his son they had sure been fearful of the man on that day.

"Remember the toad that I put in your pants?" he had asked Lhaklar before they left the bush's underside.

"No." Lhaklar replied. "When did that happen?"

"You was around two hundred and twenty—just out of diapers. After I took up the toad, I took it to you then slid it into your big boy pants. You ran, screaming from one end of the porch to the next, until ma came over to relieve you of it." he said. "Dad, though not being pleased with what I did, wasn't all that mean on me—was forced to skip out on dessert, and I had to apologize to you for what I did."

"Must be why my butt has all them scars on it—you puttin' that toad in my pants made me have warts!"

"The mental image that you just caused my mind to create will haunt me for the rest of my life!"

They had only just started exploring the yard, and remembering certain things that they did when they had been kids, when their names were heard as being called. The spell, that'd cause the hint of smoke from being detected on their bodies, had been said then they had made the trek to see what was up right after their names were heard.

The photographers, that were all lined up before the fence, were either at one another's throat or were having a field day in snapping pictures of them as they rounded the porch; he could imagine how many photographs they got of Hazaar and Lazeer—knowing how them two were, they had probably gotten into a fight of sorts and the reporters had probably got it all on film. He was about to make a crack on what they'd see or hear about on the news later on that day when, suddenly, Lhaklar put the brakes on then gave his head a shake.

"Lhaklar?" he said.

"Dlahsleon?" Lhaklar disregarded him. When he looked in the direction of the porch, he had to suppress a gasp—standing just before the porch steps were eight Goblins... all who he and his brother had played with when they had been kids.

"Bile! Lhaklar!" the eight Goblins said in unison.

Lazeer was now sporting a busted lower lip and several cuts to his face; though promising to get him back, he doubted that he would. Along with tackling him, then rolling with him down one of the yard's hills, he had pummeled the shit out of him—Lazeer was probably going to be feeling the fruit of his injuries here in a short, which would cancel out any of his desires for gaining revenge on him.

If his parents asked him why he had beat him brother up, he'd reply by saying that he had annoyed him by throwing jokes on what all had happened after he fell into the pool of water that was around the Yew-like tree. Along with swallowing two to three mouthfuls of water, he had had a time in getting out of the water; after leaving the water, he had found himself as finding a bunch of yellowish-white creatures suctioned to his arms—a yell from him was emitted, then he ran under the tree, then his clothes were removed, then the act of his slapping his body as he evicted all of the creatures from himself happened. The things, that had been found as being on his body, had looked very Leech-like in appearance—it was just the fact that they were a yellowish-white color, and had a set of projections on their sides, that set them apart from the creatures that were known to be on Earth. After throwing the creatures from himself, then donning his clothes, then doing a spell that'd cause his ruined Playboy magazine to go from being ruined to being like it was before he fell in the water, he had taken to leading his brother from the area.

Lazeer, all while he was taking him back to where the porch was, had joked about his trying to become a mermaid, and then about how he had freaked out after finding the leech-like creatures on himself, and then had asked him how many kids had made with the creatures; at the time of the question of whether he still had a penis, or if the creatures had sucked it from his body, was asked, he was about ready to explode.

He was sure that the photographers had gotten a better than decent session on photographing him as he beat his brother to a pulp—their fight hadn't been hidden; it had been able to be seen by just about everyone, including the two to three Goblins who had still been doing what they were in the pool area.

While Lazeer had managed to slug his fist into his left eye, and then into his right side, he had gotten the upper-hand by kicking him in the stomach and then in the groin; his brother was doing the splayed-out walking thing and his arm was also being held across his stomach. The reporters and photographers were probably getting in a better than good amount of pictures of Lazeer's strange, little walk and of the injuries that he had on himself—he honestly didn't care; the little fucker deserved all that he had given him.

"You've gotten big!" after reaching to within ten or so yards of the sheep and goat barns, he started hearing the voices of many people speaking almost at once.

"And strong!" another of the people said.

"I bet you can pick all of us up at once, Bile." a third person said.

"I might be able to. Quick, get one of them long, sturdy sticks then all of you grab hold and—" Bile was heard as saying

"Bile," Hazaar heard his mother say. Judging by the sound of her voice, he knew that she was telling his older brother to not do something.

"You're as tall as your dad, Lhaklar." someone else said. "The last I saw you, you was just over his waist."

"And so was you," the first person said.

After hearing what he did, he crept closer to the sheep and goat barns; after reaching the two barns, he dropped to his knees then started crawling forward. Once he was at the edge of the sheep barn, he poked his head forward then took in what was going on near the porch. He came close to laughing after seeing what he did.

There were eight Goblins, who looked to be around Bile and Lhaklar's age, standing all around his two, older brothers. The one who was standing to the left of Bile was four foot, seven inches tall; he had reddish-brown hair and blue eyes, and his skin was a light green color. From where he was, he was able to see that he had a long, thin nose. The Goblin standing beside Mr. Long-Nose had plain, brown hair and eyes while the one that was on the other side of Mr. Long-Nose had dirty blond hair and green eyes—both of these guys were four foot, five and a half inches tall. The one that was currently separating Lhaklar from Bile had strawberry-blond hair and light blue eyes; he stood four foot, three inches and had a light blue skin complexion.

After seeing what he was able to see, he ducked back to being behind the barn then rejoined his brother, who looked curious about what was going on. Though he didn't say anything, he thought that Bile and Lhaklar had made the eight Goblins look downright puny—they had muscle on them, and were taller than they were, which made them look as he thought they did.

"What's going on?" Lazeer asked. Like Hazaar, he had heard the talking, and the excitement; though wanting to do as Hazaar had, he had decided to stay where he was.

"I think that our brothers have been made into idols." Hazaar said. "They've got eight Goblins, that look to be around their age, around them."

"Attacking?"

"No. Just... talking, and being a bit too excited."

"Oh."

The fight with his brother had made him feel a little better; it felt like he was his old, normal self again, and he felt like he had nothing to worry about now. He could take the busted lip, and the cuts and bruises, and his ribs and groin hurting him in stride while the feeling of his being a trespasser, and an alien, he couldn't.

After hearing what he did, he figured that the Goblins, that were around his two brothers, were some of Bile and Lhaklar's old kiddie friends or playmates—this figuring, sadly but surely, caused that old feeling of being a trespasser to return. Bile and Lhaklar had had friends while being in this environment while he and Hazaar had no one. While being on Earth, he had made plenty of friends, and had lost plenty of friends to either the plagues, natural disasters, or to the plain fact of their growing up and then forgetting all about him.

He and Hazaar had no friends here; they had no one to be associated with that was their age, and they had no one to goof around with or rough house or even talk to. All he had was his brother and all his brother had was him. Lazeer, after feeling the feeling of his being a trespasser return, went towards the fence that was behind the sheep barn then leaned against it; all while dropping to his butt, he listened to what his brothers and their friends were talking about.

"I feel like such an alien here." he absently said.

"Hate to break it to ya, Lil Bro, but you _are_ an alien." Hazaar replied. Lazeer blinked his eyes; he hadn't meant or intended to say anything on how he felt.

"Like the kind that doesn't belong, Hazaar. I feel like I don't belong here—like I'm a trespasser or something."

"You're weird, dude." Hazaar said while sitting down beside his brother. "You belong. You was born h—"

"Was born, yes, but I wasn't raised here." Lazeer said. "The only history that I have with this place is me being conceived and then born here."

"After you was born, you spent three months and one week here." Hazaar pointed out.

"And that's all—Bile and Lhaklar have more history here than either I or you do." Lazeer said. "They were here for over two hundred years... they have memories of this place while we don't."

While he understood what his brother was saying, and while he did, in a few, small ways, believe it, he wasn't about to let it get to him or let it make him become depressed. Yes, he and Lazeer had been mere infants at the time of their removal from the house and, yes, they hadn't had a chance to make friends or experience living here, but that didn't mean that they should get depressed about it. This place, he knew, would take a while to grow on them and then get to feeling like home.

"I ever tell you about what I saw nearly two weeks ago?" Lazeer asked after the sound of everyone talking in the yard started ebbing down. "The reason to why I've been asking mom, dad, and Bile to check my closet whenever I'm in my room?"

"No,"

"Happened on the night that ma came home from seeing Trobrencus, and on the following night too—heard someone calling out to me on the twenty-ninth while, on the thirtieth, I both heard that same person then saw someone as coming out from my closet." Lazeer said. "He had a black body, and was wearing chains, and had glowing yellow eyes that were shaped like scalene triangles."

"There's a vent or two in your room, same as mine—you perceived the air coming from the vent as someone calling out to you, then, when you fell asleep, you dreamed up some form that scared you."

"I _saw_ him," Lazeer insisted. "I saw him like I see you now, Hazaar. He came out from my closet, then he walked over to my bed, then he spoke to me."

Lazeer got to say no more on what he had seen; the Goblin, that ran around the sheep's pasture, slid to a stop then gained his full attention.

The Goblin was of the male gender, and he was around four foot, two or three inches tall. His hair was a blond color while his eyes were large, expressive, and blue in color. There was no hint of warts or any other blemishes on his face. The blue shirt, that he was wearing, had mid-long sleeves on it; his pants, while being of the jean variety, were a very faint blue color; and the shoes, that were on his feet, looked strikingly like sneakers to him. After seeing the Goblin, then getting to his feet, he winced then took two to three steps to the side—this move of his was no more done before another Goblin came into view.

While the one Goblin looked friendly, and while the acknowledging hello looked to be on his lips, he wasn't able to say anything to him; the notion was mutual for him and his brother, who had since gotten to his feet as well. The second Goblin, while looking somewhat pleasant after rounding the fence, gained the look of one who was in for a fight right after seeing him.

"You!" the second Goblin, who's name was none other than Amfloon Speelin, exclaimed after seeing him.

"Heh-Hello Amfloon." Lazeer returned.

Hazaar had a feeling that a spot of trouble might spark up between the newcomer and his brother so he moved between the two of them; Amfloon Speelin and his little brother had a prior history and, really, so did he. Amfloon was older than both of them—he was eighteen hundred years old; now that the surname clicked in his brain, he noticed that he had a better than heavy resemblance to the older of the Speelin brothers that worked for his and his brothers' father.

Amfloon's face was triangular shaped; the eyes were green while the nose was rather large and sported one to two warts on both of its sides. Amfloon's hair was red, and was about mid-long. He was wearing a red t-shirt; his pants were black and gray while his shoes were a plain black color. The watch, that was on his right wrist, looked almost brand new.

"I, Lazeer, and he had the same Potions and Spells teacher—Mr. Arkav Lihdrel."

Lazeer had been the equivalent of a class clown back when they had been in school and Amfloon, being the guy that he was, had either not taken his jokes, and joke-like nature, in stride or had plain disliked him for his smarts. Along with handing his tests and quizzes back before everyone else did, Lazeer always did his homework and was one of the first to raise his hand when a question on the given lesson was asked. While he had often been annoyed by his brother's too-smart antics, and jokes and joke-like nature, he hadn't taken it in the way that Amfloon had.

Amfloon Speelin, it had seemed back then, was a little slow in doing things and was a bit of a slacker. Along with being one of the last students to hand his tests and quizzes back he had also only had his homework on him around a quarter to half of the time. The kid had mostly gotten C's and D's on his work—or, at least until Lazeer started going to Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic. Them C's and D's had become high to mid-level B's and high C's after Lazeer was enrolled in the school and Amfloon also started doing his homework and being a little faster in doing his tests and quizzes. The rivalry had started out pretty basic until Lazeer's potions and spells were always done on the first try—Amfloon had just not been able to do them on the first try, which had caused the normal rivalry to become something like a classroom battle.

While trying to show his brother up, and try to get him into trouble for, sometimes, things that he either didn't do or say, he had also bullied him. If Mr. Lihdrel said good job, Reezal, Amfloon would have a comeback to it, or would corner his brother outside the room and then threaten to pummel him if he didn't drop his intelligence; if Mr. Lihdrel gave Lazeer, who went by Reezal back then, a paper that had a B or A on it Amfloon would crack and then say that he had cheated. Amfloon was also responsible for tripping his brother up at any chance that he saw fit and in pushing, shoving, or swiping certain things from his desk too.

His issues with the kid stemmed from his activities with Lazeer; if he saw Amfloon pushing, shoving, or tripping Lazeer up, he'd lunge or charge at him and then swing his fist. On the times where Amfloon had pushed him into the cauldron of potion that he was trying to make, he had wheeled himself around and then spat out a bunch of derogatory names that had caused Mr. Lihdrel to come running. About a quarter of his given detentions had come from his either defending himself or Lazeer from the kid—Amfloon, in comparison to his given discipline, had never been reprimanded or disciplined for his actions against either he or Lazeer. The other detentions that he had gotten had come from his running his mouth at his other teachers, or at his classmates, or by his fighting his classmates.

While he was sure that his brother could take care of himself, he still stood before him—he figured that his brother had already gotten his fair share of abuse that day; there was no need for another to be added onto it, and especially not by the hands of one who was unrelated to him.

"Amfloon," he said after placing himself before his brother.

"Razaah." Amfloon said the name that he had gone by when he had been in school.

"Nice to see you." Hazaar said before making the motion to grab his brother and then pull him along. Only when Amfloon stepped before him did he stop. "Look, we don't want any trouble. One of our parents called for us, and he was sprayed by some frog, and then bitten by two types of fish, so we really need to—"

"Did he see what it was that sprayed him?" the Goblin who had the large, expressive, blue eyes asked.

"Yeah—it was orange and black." Lazeer answered.

"Seeper's Frog," the Goblin said. "They're not bad-poisonous but they do excrete a chemical when they're threatened."

"I take it that you picked it up, which makes me believe that you're non-changed—you're still touching things that you shouldn't." Amfloon said. "Seeper's Frog is a more look but don't touch species; the only dangerous frog around these parts is the Ocraon."

"The Ocraon?" Lazeer asked.

"It's the ugliest thing that you'll ever see in your life!" the unnamed Goblin said. "It's covered in wrinkly, brown skin and it has all sorts of yellow spots on it. The face is pointy, and has a spike on its snout, and its front feet are webbed while its back feet aren't. The eyes are beady and are nearly black in color. They live in the ocean—according to m'daddy, Mr. Surfeit put a chemical out that keeps them from coming onto his property."

"Have you seen one?" Lazeer found himself as being interested in the Ocraon.

"No, but my dad has." the Goblin replied before making the motion in introducing himself. "Name's Arenzoar Modulavich, you two must be Hazaar and Lazeer."

While waiting for her two, younger sons to show up, she took in the ones that were interacting with Bile and Lhaklar. Dlahsleon, and his older brother, Arenzoar, were still very polite and respectful; Losal's son, who had been given a name that was similar to his own, was still rather shy, and quiet, but he was also polite and respectful. Eldass's three sons, the twins, Seiqo and Devlor, and Malmeen, who was also a twin, but who's twin wasn't paying the house a visit that day, had been rather excitable, but still polite and respectful of the ones around them, while one of Kalach's two sons had needed a mild reprimanding from his father—Amfloon was going through the final motions of the Temperamental phase, and had said something negative towards Bile's shirt and on how Lhaklar was handling himself. Olteeb Speelin, who was somewhere around twenty or so years older than Hazaar and Lazeer, had been brought up for them to interact with—Mr. Speelin had made the decision for her and her husband on their two, younger sons gaining some friends of their own that were of their own age, which both she and her husband appreciated.

Amfloon hadn't been the only one to be reprimanded; Bile had gone a bit too far in suggesting that the eight boys grab a stick so he could see if he could lift them all up at once—while she understood that he was just showing off, and goofing around, she had still made the motion in telling him to not do that and to watch himself around the ones that were smaller and less muscled than he.

Except for Hazaar and Lazeer being a no-show, and Homsi's continual habit of asking her is she was okay or not, the outing had been a good one; she was all for the eight Goblins spending time with her sons and with her sons spending time with them.

Amfloon and Arenzoar had run off, playing one of them chase me games, while the other children were evenly split between Bile and Lhaklar—they were either talking to them while they explored the front yard or they were just plain following them around.

"Where are they?" she wondered while, once again, reaching up to touch the amulet that was around her neck. She had lost count of how many time she had touched it, and of how many times she had fought herself to not reach up or touch it.

Her sons were very obedient of her; they snapped at attention whenever she called for them, and they were very respectful to her, which she was very grateful for. Only unless it was absolutely called for did she discipline them—she had never abused or neglected them; it was either with a dish cloth or with her voice that she disciplined them with. After her two, younger sons didn't appear after their father, once again, called for them she stepped forward; she was ushering out a call for them to appear right when Kalach and Homsi were calling for their two, absent sons.

Arenzoar and Amfloon responded quickly to their father's calls; they, who had obviously just been behind the sheep and goat paddocks, ran back into view, then ran right over to their fathers to see what they wanted. Hazaar and Lazeer, it did seem, had been with them at the time that the dual-calls were made—one ran around the fence that contained the sheep while the other walked around it.

At first glance, she knew that some sort of trouble was encountered between her two sons. Hazaar's clothes were wet, and were a little disarrayed on his body, and Lazeer had some injuries to his face and was walking like his groin hurt him. Lazeer's clothes also looked a little wet, or damp, to her. After seeing the states of her two sons, she stepped away from the porch then went to them; only when they were within talking distance did she stop and then cross her arms over her chest.

"Being who I am to you two, I only need to look at you to know that you've been fighting."

"We had a small fight," Hazaar admitted. "He annoyed me with his jokes... I couldn't take it anymore!"

"After deciding to go swimming he came upon a fish, which he kissed—his hybrid offspring scared him something awful, mom!" Lazeer flashed a smile at his brother after he turned to look at him.

"We fell in a pool that's around some sort of Yew-like tree, momma." Hazaar explained. "He got bit by two fish, then a frog sprayed his hand."

"What frog was it that sprayed you, son?" TazirVile asked. Angel gave him a small glance before giving her full attention back to her two sons.

"According to Amfloon, it was a Seeper's Frog." Lazeer replied.

"Ah, a rather common species around here. Nothing to worry about—seeing as they only release their chemicals when handled, or threatened, I take it that you picked the frog up then handled it roughly?"

"Why's your hand swollen, Lazeer?" Angel asked.

All while they were out from under his gaze he had wondered where they were and what they were doing; unlike Angel, who had shed no worry about them, he had worried a great deal about their whereabouts and activities. The reporters, and photographs, he wasn't worried about—they'd not dare jump the fence, or break through it, to get to his sons—, and he wasn't worried about the sheep or goats hurting them either—they were contained, of course. With the boys not knowing, or remembering, the flora and fauna of the planet he worried that they'd touch or pick something up that could harm them—he made a mental note to educate them on what to and not to touch after that day's lunch period was over.

According to Lazeer, he and his brother went to the Lagoon; he had no qualms in their looking at the place, or going halfway into it, but he did have something against their going fully into it. The Man's Lagoon was a place for men; boys, and women, were not allowed admission. At the moment, it was just him, Gloar Rovnitov, Rilam Salirok, Mewokken Khasahu, and, on occasion, Homsi and Eldass that ventured to the area—unless he made other male friends, or his sons grew to the appropriate age where they were allowed to traverse the area, no one else was allowed to be in it.

Lazeer being bit by a Swamprey, and then a Pufbiter, and then getting sprayed by a Seeper's Frog, didn't worry him a bit—in his mind, the boy had gotten a lesson on what to and not to touch. He was mildly concerned about Hazaar finding himself as having a bunch of Laechums on his body but, again, them animals weren't dangerous so he wasn't hopping to the moon and back on the event. Again, to him, his son had learned a lesson on what to not venture or fall into—meaning the Man's Lagoon and the pools that were in it.

"You two need to go in now. Put some dry clothes on, then send the wet ones down the the laundry room." TazirVile said. "After you're dressed, come out then mingle in with the ones that are here to see you." seeing as the issue needed to be disclosed, he then said, "Lazeer, while you're inside, take care of your hand and face."

"K," Hazaar said. He, and his brother, walked by their parents then went into the mansion.


	31. Chapter 31

"While that was fun, I'm glad it's over." Losal said while leading his three co-workers, and their sons, into the employee lounge. He and Lorol had made the move to leave the activities that were going on in the front yard ten minutes ago; after escorting his son down to where their family's apartment was, he had returned to the yard and then waited until the signal was given for everyone to disperse. Homsi and Kalach looked to be very uninterested in taking their sons to the apartments that they and their families lived in; with the Zultoa family living in a residence that wasn't under their employer's roof, it was understandable on why Eldass's sons were still in the house.

"I do agree with you, Mr. Khrelan." Eldass returned. "Got a feeling that my three boys will be doing some serious sleeping tonight."

After entering the room, then leading his sons to one of the three couches, he sat down then sighed; the morning had gone well for the Speelin's. Amfloon and Olteeb had done well in interacting with the Young Masters and the Young Masters had done well with them—except for that one period where he had to reprimand Amfloon, he hadn't had to worry any on having to split up any fights or on having to send one or both of his sons home. Really, the only thing that he had noticed that was off on his two sons was Amfloon's activity of keeping a better than keen eye on Hazaar and Lazeer—after taking him to the side, then asking him what was wrong, he had learned that not only had his son, and his employer's two younger sons, been enrolled in the same Potions and Spells class but that his son had a rocky history with the two boys.

Amfloon was an average to mediocre-grade student—the constantly received C's and D's, and the reports on his son not doing his homework, had been annoying while the fact of his son being kept back for a hundred years had been even more annoying. Olteeb, who was closer in age to the two younger sons of his employer's, had had his head on straight all throughout his tenure at Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic while Amfloon hadn't. Up to now, he had figured that his constantly sent correspondence on his wanting his son to do better in school had done the trick in his son buckling down and getting better grades in his given work—he now had the impression that it was a sort of in-classroom rivalry that was the cause of his son getting his head in on the game of his schooling.

The constantly given D-grade papers had stopped being received; they had been replaced by high-level C's while the low-grade C's had either been replaced by high-grade C's or B's. The one to two times where his son had been beat up while being in the classroom had been self-explained earlier—Mr. Arkav Lihdrel's classroom was where both events happened and, as it just so happened to be, it had been one of the two younger Young Masters who was responsible for the broken nose, the bruised cheek, and the eye vessel being burst.

Due to school being over three hundred years post-graduating, he had forgotten all about what happened when Amfloon was away from home; after hearing his son call Hazaar by the name of Raazah he had come close to snapping his fingers and then fainting—the Young Masters, he had been told some weeks ago, had all gone by their names spelled backwards when they were in school... it was quite possible that Homsi's, Losal's, and Eldass's sons had also gone to school with them. Homsi's two sons, and Losal's son, were close to Lhaklar's age, so it was possible that they had had him as a classmate, and the same went with Malmeen, Eldass's son who had been born nine months after Young Master Bile was brought into the Universe. With Amfloon being known as having Hazaar and Lazeer as classmates in, at least, one of his classes he had a mind to ask his son for his old school yearbooks and then do a session in looking through them—just to see if the two boys were in them and just to see what all they had done during their tenure in Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic.

"Damn yearbooks cost $100, but they were well worth every penny of what I sent for them." he thought after finally making the motion to stand up and then go retrieve something to drink.

Since he and his wife were firm on their kids about their keeping their rooms neat and tidy, and free of dust and cobwebs, no protector sheets had been in dire need of purchasing—them hefty books were on a bookshelf somewhere, and were in pristine condition. Since Olteeb had had his head on straight during his schooling, he had graduated on time; he probably hadn't had any contact with Hazaar or Lazeer. He had a feeling that he and Amfloon were going to be conversing it up at the table that night—he wanted to know if Hazaar and Lazeer were in any of his other classes, or if the potions and spells class was it on what they had had together.

After hearing that the two boys were former classmates of his son, and then remembering that Amfloon was keen on staring at him, he had stood firm on keeping good eye on him—just in case something happened, like his son ganging up on either of the two boys or the two boys ganging up on him. Luckily, for him, his sons, and the two, Young Masters, everything had been swell with them, so his Eagle-staring had been for nothing.

"Playing babysitter this morning, Mr. Modulavich?" one of their female co-workers asked Homsi after noticing that he had Arenzoar and Dlahsleon standing on either side of him.

"No. My sons had a meeting with the Young Masters—it not only went well but it ended just five minutes ago." Homsi replied.

Be it the hard, strange truth but he had actually been more worried about Homsi than his two sons; he had just not acted right all while being out on the front lawn. Mr. Modulavich was seventeen thousand years his senior, and his tenure in working for their employer far surpassed his, and he was closer to both their employer and his wife—up to that morning, he had figured that that closeness was normal and only in an employee-employer-employer's wife fashion. While he, Eldass, and Losal had given Mistress Angel her space, and had allowed her to have an area all to herself, Homsi hadn't. Along with wanting to stay near her he had also been constantly questioning her—one question had been asked over and over again until, finally, their Mistress got her fill of the man and "dismissed" him.

"Are you okay?... Are you okay?... Are you okay?" that ran off in his head right after he heard Homsi's verbal exchange with their female co-worker. It had been asked once every five minutes.

Mistress Angel had been nice and polite towards him for the first ten or fifteen minutes before giving him his signal to move off and leave her alone; even after moving over to where Eldass was, he had kept a steady gaze on her. By the time the slotted hour was up for the planned outing, Homsi had to be prompted from the porch—Eldass had found himself as having to practically drag the man into the mansion, and then up the stairs, before the man took the cue to move under his own power.

The Modulaviches were heading on eight thousand years in being married; while Homsi claimed to love his wife there were them times where he was going past their apartment and heard the two fussing and fighting inside. Not all marriages lasted forever; not all vows were kept, and not all men remained faithful to the ones that they popped the question to—could the one to two fights a week be causing Homsi to turn a wandering eye towards someone else... oh, say, their employer's wife instead of one of their female co-workers, or a spouse of one of their male co-workers who wasn't happy in her marriage? Homsi and Mistress Angel weren't only good friends but Homsi was in her Circle—a Goblin couldn't just become involved with the employer's wife then get a cuff on the wrist and then have it overlooked; Goblin Society frowned, and quite heavily too, on relationships that were held between the employer's spouse and his employee. Homsi's image, his job, and his and his family's good life would all go down the toilet if anything between he and Mistress Angel was done.

After seeing where Homsi was, he forgot about getting himself something to drink. He told his sons to stay where they were then went towards him. Arenzoar and Dlahsleon, when he reached their father's side, were polite in not only moving off to another portion of the room but also paid no attention to them as they spoke.

"Hey man," he said right when his co-worker was snapping his cellular phone shut. "Everything going well at home?"

"As well as it should—Abara's finishing with the laundry, and the twins are creating noise with the pots and pans." Homsi replied.

"Got to love it when the little ones take out the pots and pans then start using them like drums." Eldass said.

"They make a lot of noise but at least they're happy while doing so." Losal said.

"I'm surprised that none of the spouses on the hallway that me and mine live on haven't paid us a visit—Gizzeppli and Galiza, when they get to playing with the pots and pans, make more noise than I did when I was their age."

"Oh, so a confession is made on who kept me and my family up last night?" Losal snickered. "Lorol and Nacai, when they were tots, did the same as your twins are—can drive a working man insane but it can also serve as bringing certain stresses down and make one have a good laugh."

Homsi moved off; after making the motion for his sons to follow him, so he could take them down to the apartment that their mother, and three siblings, were in he tried to leave the room. Kalach, rather surprisingly, barred him from leaving the room—Eldass and Losal, and the few others that were also in the room, watched as Kalach badgered him with questions, and barred him from going anywhere else in the house. While he was a nice guy, and while he did his best to carry himself well and regard others well, he wasn't one that liked it when others stalked or prevented him from doing certain things.

He had just made the motion to grab and then push Kalach from being in front of him when the question that his co-worker seemed to be more interested in, and that seemed to have more value in it than the ones that revolved around his home life, was asked. After hearing this question, he stood before the man; he stared at him, then blinked his eyes, then gave his head a shake.

Kalach was both a friend and a co-worker of his, which meant that he did have some responsibility on his hands in keeping him in line; now that the question of what he was doing while being on the front porch, with his employer's wife, was out and in the open, he understood why the man was so adamant on keeping him in the room.

"If your question on how my marriage is involves a worry of me growing tired of my wife and then doing a little tail-searching let me tell you now that everything between me and Abara is fine." he answered after his head was shaked. "Abara and I have our usual couples fights but we're still very much in with one another."

"They why'd you do what you did on the porch?" Kalach asked.

"After what I heard her say on the phone earlier this week, I had to keep at her in asking if she was alright or not."

"What'd you hear?" Eldass asked. He was now very interested in what was being spoken about.

Women put their hands on their worn jewelry all the time; they usually did it out of appreciation, or out of wanting to attract attention to either it or to themselves, or they were plain nervous and needed something to fiddle around with. Mistress Angel, during their time on the front lawn, had fingered the amulet, that was around her neck, a total of eight times—with all that she had gone through over the last few weeks, he had figured that her husband had made it for her and that it was a sort of security thing between the two that was suppose to lower the woman's stress levels; after hearing that his employer's wife, and all of her sons, had one of them amulets on them, and that Mistress Angel had tried to pull a fast one by saying that her mention of Elimination Demoniaque was plain normal talk, he got to thinking otherwise.

He was instantly reminded of how no one had done anything to prevent his employer's wife from taking off with the kids after hearing what Homsi told Kalach; after hearing that Mistress Angel had been talking with Bushon when Elimination Demoniaque was brought up, he looked at Eldass then charged from the lounge. Eldass was a step to two steps behind him; the man went upstairs—to, he presumed, the level that the Bedali's were on—, while he went into their employer's office.

"No one was there to either give our employer a head's up on what was going on between his wife and nephew or prevent Mistress Angel from leaving with her sons... with this being known, there's plenty of folk here to prevent her from leaving and to give Master Tazir the warning about something going on with his wife." Losal said while grabbing the phone from his employer's desk then dialing the number to his employer's cellular phone.

After dialing the number that he wanted to dial, he stood listlessly in place then waiting.

"Your girlfriend must really want you, dad." Lazeer said after the cellular went off for the fifth consecutive time.

"Very funny, Lazeer." TazirVile said while taking his cellular from its place on the dash. He didn't check the number that was calling or even answer the call; he just opened the glove compartment then threw the phone in. The glove compartment was closed right after the phone was safely in it. "The one calling, if it's important, will leave a message—I'm busy."

After Arenzoar, Dlahsleon, Lorol, Seiqo, Devlor, Amfloon, and Olteeb were taken inside, and after his sons were all gathered before the house, the order for two of his limousines to be driven from the garage had been made. He and his family, and Dara Dara and Triskull, were in his Excal X2 Limo while the following vehicle—a Model A limo that was smaller and darker than the one that he was driving—had his mother and stepfather, Qeeta, Whosla and her husband, Bekla and her husband, and Vaiba and her husband in it. Except for Bile's little issue in figuring his body out while getting into the vehicle everyone had gotten into the two vehicles with no problems.

Hazaar and Lazeer had taken care of what all injuries they had on themselves, and then put on some dry clothes, before returning to the front yard and then interacting with the ones that were there to see them; he was marvelously impressed with how they acted and was honestly hoping that a longer meeting between the children would happen in the imminent future.

Whosla and Zebyr, Bekla and Keibo, and Vaiba and Majeer had all made their minds up about coming on the excursion after hearing what was up while his mother and stepfather, and Qeeta, had taken nearly ten minutes to decide to come along. Dara Dara and Triskull were last-second additions to the planned outing—while reminded of Vile's little act, where he called the vehicle that a heavily pregnant Angel was in, and that was slated to take her to one of the nearby cities where she'd be allowed to shop, and where he had caused all sorts of trouble for his wife after getting in the car, he forced himself to think positive.

Dara Dara and Triskull weren't Vile, and they wouldn't prevent Angel, or the boys, from doing anything that they either wanted or were told to do. He had faith that they'd behave themselves.

"Or so you think." Lhaklar, who had used a form of his Telepathy to tap into his father's thoughts, thought.

Dara Dara and Triskull, since getting into the car, wouldn't let him or Hazaar or Lazeer have anything to do with Bile; the act of their either glaring at them, or saying for them to not refer to them as being their aunt and uncle, was being discreetly kept from their parents too. If he recalled correctly, he had been allowed to call them Aunt Dara Dara and Uncle Triskull when he was a kid and they had also referenced themselves as being that whenever they were around a then-infant Hazaar and Lazeer too—he wondered what was going on for a few seconds before figuring that they were either still sleepy or that something was up that neither he nor his brothers wanted to know.

Their mother, after the two came out then put the trip to a temporary halt, had given them a nervous look before turning to look through the windshield; Dara Dara and Triskull had insisted on getting into their car and dad hadn't said anything against their doing so. Their mother, and Dara Dara, weren't getting along all that grandly while she and Triskull were either staying clear of one another or seemed cool with each other—the dislike, expressed through Dara Dara, had been put into effect almost immediately after she was in the car. Both she and Triskull had taken to sit on either side of Bile; along with speaking under her breath about the things that she didn't like of their mother's mothering skills, and of what all she was allowing them to do, she seemed to be taking on the leadership role in keeping Bile "at bay".

Bile's clothes had been picked on; the way Bile talked had been picked on; Bile's height and strength had been picked on; and Bile wasn't allowed to speak to them or look through one of the vehicle's windows. One time, when Bile went to speak to him about what he was seeing through his window, Triskull had placed his arm across his chest and then told him in the smallest of voices to be quiet.

Bile looked very uncomfortable now. With the way Dara Dara and Triskull were sitting, it almost looked like the three were an ice cream sandwich—they were all squished up against one another, which was strange seeing as there was plenty of space for them, and for at least two others, to sit.

He was seated across from Bile; Hazaar was on the same seat but he was sitting about twelve inches from him while Lazeer had the back row of seating all to himself. Triskull could well of taken a seat beside either he or Hazaar, or Dara Dara could well of taken a seat beside Lazeer; there was no need for Bile to be all squished up with the car being as big as it was on the inside.

"Where're you taking us, dad?" Hazaar asked.

"J'Sepp, son." TazirVile replied. "We'll drive for another fifteen minutes before teleporting to the city's outskirts."

"Same place that we went to last month, right?"

"Uh-huh." TazirVile replied. "But to a different restaurant."

"What restaurant are we going to?" Bile asked. Triskull responded by giving him a not-so-polite elbow to the side.

"Whegnew's." TazirVile responded. "Think you boys will be happy there—it's only open during the morning hours because nothing but breakfast is served."

"Cool!" they said in unison.

Thanks to Dara Dara and Triskull's antics, Hazaar was instantly reminded of the few times that he had rode on a bus—the jingle-like sounds that came from whatever was on the passengers' persons; the ever-constant shifting of the people around him; the rude-acting driver; the act of the one, or ones, around him chewing their gun too loud; the task of finding a seat that didn't have still-wet gum, or piss or someone's vomit, on it; trying to keep your balance while the ones around you are pushing you or are leaning against you... uh! He could deal without remembering such things! Seeing as his father was a decent driver, and there wasn't anything preventing him or telling him to stay where he was, he got up then made the move to go to where the front seats were.

"How're you able to do the turns so cleanly when the car's so long?" he asked while taking in the dull gold interior that was present in the vehicle's front.

"Years of experience, son." Hazaar sighed; of course his father would answer him with that. It seemed the go-to thing for any adult to tell their child, who was asking a question about how one drove or did this or that while driving, that it was years of experience that did it for them in the driving department. What the man said next was no surprise to him. "The first few years of driving a vehicle like this can be a bit scary—seems to take forever to do the turns, and you're constantly worried about the other drivers slamming into you when you're doing them. The U-turns are the ones that really get a new driver, as does the act of one parking on the side of the road—which, Hazaar, you never do with a vehicle like this. If you park a vehicle like any of what I own you do so in a parking building or in a secure lot, okay?"

"Yessir." Hazaar said under his breath.

"Angel, surely you've taught your kids to not stand while a vehicle's in motion." Dara Dara said from the back. "Bile, will you sit still please."

"I'd sit better if I didn't have the both of you pressed up against me." Bile said before the sound of two people putting up a struggle was heard. "Ma—"

"Sit still, sit straight, and be quiet." Triskull said.

"Ma—"

"Do as Uncle Triskull says." Dara Dara snapped.

"Ma!"

"Bile, you can move to a different seat." Angel said. She turned then glared at Dara Dara and Triskull. "You two need to leave my sons alone—and that does mean all of them, not just Bile."

His brother went back to his seat while he tried to get up and then sit beside Lazeer; he had never been so humiliated in his whole life! First, he had found himself as having to do a scoot to get into the car and then to get into the seat that he was in—people were around to see him as he got into the car, so that just added more embarrassment to how he had felt—and then he had found himself as having his biological father's brother and sister sit beside him and then squish him to death. All he had heard was their knit-picking, and insults, and their telling him to shut up for the last ten minutes—it was enough to make someone half his age go insane! The fact of their forcing him to stay where he was whenever he went to get into a more comfortable sitting position didn't make how he felt drop in any degree either; if anything, he was glad to hear that he could move from where he was. He yearned space, and his own peace of mind, and he was about to do it.

His shoulders were turned, then given a single shake to loosen their muscles, then he made the motion to get up; Triskull was fast in grabbing and then forcing him down right after he was pushing himself up from the seat. When he tried again, Triskull repeated this move. When he tried for a third time, Dara Dara took her turn in grabbing and then forcing him down—but, unlike Triskull, she barked at him to sit down and be still. After the third try was for bust he turned his gaze towards the vehicle's front—maybe his mother would see what was going on and maybe she would help him in doing as he had been given permission to do.

"You two look like a bunch of school bullies," Lhaklar said after seeing that his brother wasn't being allowed to get up. "Let my brother get up will you?"

"Stay out of this, Runt." Triskull growled.

"Watch who you call a runt!" Lhaklar spat.

"Triskull! Dara Dara! Let Bile up now!" TazirVile spat. He turned his head ever so slightly to look at the ones that he had just addressed before looking back at the road. "Don't make me pull this car over—Bile, get up and find a different seat. I'm teleporting right after your butt's been planted in a seat."

Qeeta only needed to look at the vehicle before the one that she and the others were in to know that some sort of trouble was going on in it; her brother was an excellent driver, and he only had a small handful of driving tickets to his name, but he was driving very recklessly now, which was so not like him. After seeing the vehicle swerving, and after seeing the rocks that were on the road's shoulder being thrown up, she reached into her purse for her phone. Once the phone was in her hand, she opened it then dialed her brother's number—it rang several times before the voice mail clicked in; she closed it, then opened it, then re-dialed the number again only to get the same results.

Like with her brother being an excellent driver he was also known to always have his phone on him; unless he was really busy, he always answered it, so she was double worried after seeing her calls as not being picked up. After the third placed call wasn't answered, she snapped her phone shut then returned it to her bag—she had only just done this when her mother gasped; when she looked up, her mouth dropped and she, herself, gasped.

"What the hell is he doing?" QeetaVile exclaimed after seeing the car nearly go into the ditch. "Them kids are probably scared to death!"

"Angel, or one of the kids, might have him tied up at the moment." Ashaklar absently said.

"Kids and Angel nothing—I doubt if it's them that have Tazir driving in the way he is." Cheshire said while fumbling for the microphone that went to the car's CB radio. "Dara Dara and Triskull got into that car before we left."

Once the microphone was in his hand, he switched it from channel 2 to 3 then spoke into it; along with asking specifically for Tazir he put a lot of urgency in his voice. The Excal X2 Limo did two hard swerves, then looked to be about to go into the ditch once, before evening out—after seeing this, he yelled into the microphone a command for his stepson to stop the car. When no one was heard from the radio's receiving end, and when the car before them veered into the center of the road, he dropped the microphone then turned to look at his wife.

"Take the wheel," Cheshire said.

"What're you doing?" Ashaklar asked while doing as she was asked to do.

"Don't worry about me, or what I'm doing—just keep the car going straight." Cheshire said after adjusting his goggled monocle then looking forward. He tried to use a form of his Telepathy, that revolved around his being able to see all of what the one that he was trying to get in contact with was seeing, to latch onto his stepson; when his two tries didn't work—Telepathy, in the form that he was trying to do, was only able to be done when both parties were in a calm state, which Tazir was obviously not in—he tried to latch onto Lhaklar.

His father's driving was going down the toilet thanks to the fighting that was going on in the car; while the man's hands were on the wheel the man wasn't paying any attention to the road, or to who was or who might be about to use the road. The man was turned almost all the way around... he was facing Dara Dara and Triskull, who were doing more than running their mouths at him. He detected two languages, one that was Moasian—the planet's native language, which he only knew ten percent of—and another that he wasn't able to pin a name to; Dara Dara was using the unknown language while Triskull was using both the unknown language and Moasian.

Bile had managed to wrench himself free of his "captors"; he was now seated beside Lazeer. He had only just sat down when dad and his "captors" started going at one another. Hazaar and Lazeer were more than a little freaked out; Bile was doing his best in keeping Lazeer stationary while Hazaar had prevented him from placing his arm across his chest. Their mother, while trying to get their father to calm down, and to look at the road, had her hand on the wheel—Lazeer had also told the man to pay attention to the road; instead of being ignored, like their mother had been, their father had turned and then told him to watch himself. Lazeer had responded by, again, telling him to watch the road—the late addition of his calling the man an idiot had caused the man to make the threat of his being grounded if he said a word more while they were in the car.

He stood from his seat right when he felt his grandfather lock onto him; screw the outing, and his possibly being grounded for a good stretch of time—the outing was probably cancelled, thanks to Dara Dara and Triskull's antics, and his being grounded had good cause in it. Right when his grandfather locked onto him, and was able to see what he did, he rushed towards the car's front then leaped over the front seats.

After landing half-on his father's lap, he wasted no time in stomping his foot down on the brake; he shoved his father's foot from the gas pedal right when his father yelled at him then he jerked the gear shift from drive to park. When the car came to a jaw-dropping stop, he, and his mother, sighed—his mother, after sighing, grabbed the front passenger door's handle then pulled it up; after the door was open, he took to leaving the lap that he was half on.

"Good thinking, Lhaklar." Angel said to her son, who looked rather stunned after doing what he had in getting the car to stop. After she, and her secondborn son, were out of the car, she went over to let the ones that were in the back out. "Alright," she said after the back door was opened. "all of my boys are to get out. After that experience, I think we all need to do some walking—our nerves have been rattled and we need to calm them before getting back into the car and then going home."

In all, it took fifteen minutes for everyone to calm down—Tazir, naturally, was the one who took the longest to calm down while everyone else was either fast or half-fast in calming down. Even though the ones that had been in the following car weren't in their car, or involved in what happened, they also took a short while to calm down from the risky driving that they had witnessed. With all of what happened in the car disclosed, Cheshire took to making the suggestion of having Bile ride in the vehicle that he was driving—though it was a nice gesture, in having Bile be away from the ones that might give him grief, Angel turned him down. Before they returned to their vehicles, Cheshire was asked if he could "swap" two of his passengers for Dara Dara and Triskull—he readily agreed to doing so.

Whosla and her husband took the place of Dara Dara and Triskull in the Excal X2 Limo while Dara Dara and Triskull took a short while to accept that they weren't wanted in the vehicle that they had taken to initially ride in; with everyone back to being in the cars, the trip resumed from where it had left off.

"You sure, Tazzy?" Angel asked after hearing that the trip was to go on as planned. "After what we just went through, don't you think we should head home? Surely you need a little time to recoup from—"

"I've already calmed down and regained my senses," TazirVile said. "Lhaklar,"

"Yeah," Lhaklar said.

"I would normally give a sort of punishment for a deed like what you did in getting the car stopped but, since you did something in the right sense, and had a good reason and right in doing what you did, I'm letting you off the hook." TazirVile looked back to give his son an acknowledging look before turning back to look at the road. "Proud of you for doing what you did—that action of yours probably saved us from having a bad accident."

The rest of the ride was done in silence; Lhaklar's mind was all twisted up, and he found himself as unable to speak or move. While the notion of hearing his sire say that he was proud of him was a good one, he was honestly not dwelling on it—his grandfather's action in using his Telepathy to connect with him, coupled by his thoughts on the dark-skinned man, and all that had happened after Dara Dara and Triskull got into the car, was what had him in a bind. He struggled against these thoughts, and the throbbing that he felt in his head, for all of two minutes before deciding to lean back in his seat and then close his eyes.

Unlike the last time, where they hadn't felt anything after their father teleported them to J'Sepp City, they felt some effects and received a bit of panic from their being teleported from where they were. His head had no more been rested against the window when the zap was heard; he shot up, then he looked at his brothers, as the vehicle was teleported from where it was to where they were being taken to. Before the act of their teleporting to J'Sepp City concluded, he, and, he presumed, his brothers, felt their inner ears pop. His ears had no more started popping before the car was slowed to a mere crawl.

"Is my cellular still going off?" TazirVile asked. To Lhaklar, it seemed that his father was a mile away; after two to three seconds of near-panic occurred, he guessed that it was just an after-affect from their teleporting.

"I think so." Angel replied. Even she sounded very distant!

"Open the glove compartment for me," TazirVile said. "Open the phone then press, and then hold, the end button."

"You want me to turn your phone completely off?"

"Sure do," TazirVile said. "Whoever it is must be low on common sense—I'm busy, leave a message and I'll get back after I get some free time."

"Where are we?" Bile asked after getting over his post-teleportation issues.

"J'Sepp, Bile." TazirVile replied. "Give me a minute or two to find a place to park."

Though the event was over, and everyone's prior feelings and excitement over the outing was back, he was having a time in controlling his emotions. He, honestly, didn't like the idea of the outing continuing as planned; after what happened, he was either willing to take his passengers back to the mansion or say for Dara Dara and Triskull to teleport from the car and then back to the mansion. For him, the atmosphere, that was in the vehicle that he was driving, had changed from being calm to downright unpleasant after the two got in—Ashaklar was chiding the two for their actions in the vehicle that Tazir was driving, and Qeeta was trying to speak within reason to them, and they were coming back by saying that, since they had more relation to two of the people that were in the Excal Limo than anyone else in either cars, they had more right in what they said or did with them. The Silencer spell was done after Dara Dara said that, and after Triskull agreed with her; everyone was at each other's throats and, really, he was sick of it.

"Least Duru's not in the car with us." he thought before turning his gaze to the rear view mirror.

The second daughter born to the man that he had just thought about had come from a woman by the name of Dapira, who had been Duru's first wife. BeklaVile Sebatu, who went by plain Bekla by everyone who knew her, had her father's eyes; her ears, along with being a light tan color, were close to being shoulder-length. The white, Tiger-like stripes, that were on her ears, were thin, but quite strikingly beautiful. Her black dress had lace-like sleeves on it while the heels were very normal; he was fast in thinking that the Tiger Eye ring, that was on the ring finger of her left hand, was her wedding ring.

Mrs. Sebatu's husband, Keibo, was of the Vronkin people; he met very well with that species description! The body, though being worm-like in appearance, and though having pencil-thin arms on it, was quite strong and sturdy; his eyes matched his red-brown skin complexion well. He was wearing a simple pair of gray formal pants, black formal shoes, and a white work-shirt.

VaibaVile Doshluna, who was sitting beside Mr. Sebatu, was the seventh daughter born to Duru; she had come from a woman by the name of Kovina. Like her siblings, she had the ones that knew her drop the Vile from her name—she was simply called Vaiba, which he did think was a pretty name. The woman had long, auburn-brown hair and deep brown eyes; from what he had been told, she was the tallest of Duru's daughters—her five foot, nine and a half inch frame was mostly caused by her legs, which were long and rather smooth in appearance. Vaiba was wearing a blue blouse and skirt; her boots were a deep blue color.

Vaiba's husband, Majeer Doshluna, was like Keibo Sebatu—he met his species description to a T. His four foot, seven inch frame may seem small to some but it was packed with amble amounts of muscle that'd make anyone think twice about messing with him. The man, who was of the Cowerki race, had multi-brown, black, and gray fur on his body that was either straight or mildly wavy; the ears, that were on his head, were very bear-like. His pants were blue while his shoes were gray; except for the black band, that was worn across his chest, he wore no shirt.

These four people, from what he was able to tell, were very respectful of others and didn't seem to be out for Angel or her children; no issues had been encountered with them since their arrival occurred. The same went for Kashira and her family, who were related to Vaiba and her husband.

"Course, that could all change in a second." Cheshire thought while following the Excal to a building, where the two vehicles could be safely parked in.

Tazir paid for both of their vehicles to have admission to the building, so he found himself as not needing to dig his wallet out from its pocket or open it after reaching the partition that prevented people who hadn't paid entrance to the building. It took all of two minutes to find a place to park the two cars; after the cars were parked, and after they were all safely out of them, he found himself as having to take in the appearance of the oldest child and daughter of the man that he didn't get along with all that grandly.

WhoslaVile Verobari, who had also been born through Dapira, was also a rather pretty woman. Her mother was a native of Gamma Vile, and her oldest child had taken after her quite well—her skin was scaly, and either green or blue-green in color, and her eyes were very spot-on to her father's. The nails, that came from the ends of the woman's fingers, were both long and yellow in color while the hair, that was on her head, was a greenish-yellow color. Except for her shoes, which were white, she was wearing nothing but blue; the large, blue diamond ring, that was on the ring finger of her left hand, was, without a doubt, pricey and her wedding ring.

Whosla, as she was commonly called by everyone, had obviously taken a liking to the race that her mother was associated with—Zebyr Verobari was a pureblood Lizaird, or lizard-like being; his scaly skin was yellow or yellow-green in color, his neck had a frill on it, his lizard-like nails were a faint green color, and his eyes were mostly hazel with dark green pupils swimming in their centers. Mr. Verobari, who had been married to Whosla for a good deal of thousand of years, and who had three children with her, was wearing a normal, black tuxedo and shoes.

The Verobari's were fast in placing themselves between Dara Dara and Triskull, and the Sebatu's followed in their example by placing themselves on either side of Dara Dara and Triskull. Tazir led the group; his wife and sons followed behind him while everyone else trudged on behind them. Majeer, rather surprisingly, brought up the rear.

"We're all either still effected by what happened or something's about to happen that we're not aware of—we're all tense." Cheshire thought after turning to look at his wife, and then at Majeer.

Perhaps the energy, and fear, given off from the earlier done fight was what was causing her to be so nervous; even after telling herself that all was well, and that Tazir was a good driver, and that he had a reason for driving in the way that he had, she was still gripped in the nervous feeling that, really, had started being felt at the time of Dara Dara and Triskull's admission to the car. When she continued to feel nervous, she turned then did a head-count—all four of her sons were with her, and so was Tazir and the eleven others that were behind her and her children. Everyone was there, and was accounted for, and there were no extras—no dark-skinned men, or anyone else who had a wish to cause havoc for them—around to make that number grow or shrink.

After doing the head-count, she turned back around; her hand, almost on instinct, reached up to touch the amulet that she was wearing—try as she might, she was just not able to stop herself from fondling the thing. She fooled around with the amulet, then grabbed and then made as if to tear it from her neck and then throw it to some other place, for around thirty seconds before dropping her hand then moving on like any other normal person would.

"The chill, that ran up my spine when Dara Dara and Triskull got into the car, wasn't right, and neither is this feeling that I'm getting." she thought while following her husband to the restaurant.

Her eyes had grown hot, her skin had crawled, her spine had grown chilled, and a sort of smell had been detected after the two were seen as coming towards the car and then getting into it. After her eyes lighted on Dara Dara's own, she had seen something that she hadn't much liked—something hidden had been in them and she, in a lot of ways, had wanted yet not wanted to know what it was. With Tazir being the one to make all the arrangements, and having all the say on who went and didn't, she hadn't been able to tell them to go back to the mansion or sit the trip out—so far, the two had made a mess of things for the outing. They had tried to take control of her son, and had been getting on him for just about any old thing, and they had also been preventing him from talking, and interacting, with his brothers...

When she turned her head, to look at the two who were still giving her cause for concern, she saw only one of them acknowledge her—Triskull gave her a meek, little nod while Dara Dara stared at her coldly.

"Dara Dara and I haven't really had a chance to grow close to one another while me and Triskull have... maybe that's the reason to why she and I haven't been getting along." she tried to give herself some comfort. "While I'm not a fan of one barging in on how I'm mothering my young, or telling my young what to do, I have been barking at her a lot lately, and for a lot of stupid stuff too. Maybe its time to get to know her and make our relationship grow thicker."

The restaurant, that they were being taken to, was one of them one-level types that had an outdoor setting, complete with umbrellas and trash cans that had ashtrays on their surfaces. A series of awnings hung before the windows, and a single, long awning was over the blue and white carpet that led to the establishment's front door; blue and white curtains could be seen through the windows. Tazir led them down the carpet, then he opened the door for them to go through, then he moved himself to the front of their line after everyone was inside.

"How many in your party, sir?" the man at the podium asked.

"Seventeen." her husband said while taking his checkbook out from his jacket.

"Dining on the expensive side this morning." the man said before ushering out the price of their admission. "That'll be $1,080; smoking or non-smoking?"

"Non-smoking."

"To the left, sir." the man gestured for them to go on.

They were given table 31 to sit and eat their meal at; after sitting, then taking up their menus, they picked what they wanted to eat then waited for a waiter to come to their area. After the waiter came, they placed their orders then simply sat for what they had ordered to be brought to them—in all, it just took five minutes for the food to get to them and for the curtain to be drawn around the area that they were to eat in.

While waiting for the food, she had noted that her sons had taken up seating in accord to their birth—it seemed that the habit of their doing this had been adopted into their routine. She bet that Tazir was happy over this.

After receiving their orders, they started in on them.

"Went a bit overboard, Bile." Triskull said after seeing what Bile ordered.

"Don't you dare eat all of what you've got on that plate—it's time that you dropped weight, and—"

"Do we need to leave the restaurant, DD?" TazirVile asked. She, who was commonly called DD by the ones that knew or were related to her, was fast in giving him an angered look after hearing what he said. "The bill was paid, and he didn't go but so overboard in what he ordered."

"The boy's fine, leave him be." Cheshire said.

"It's way past time that Bile goes to looking like one of his age. It's better for him and his—" Dara Dara started to say.

"My son is perfectly fine," Angel said.

"DD, don't challenge me now. You'll lose, and you might just be kicked out of the restaurant in the process." TazirVile said. "I and Angel have say on what Bile does and eats. Not you."

"I'm his aunt..." Dara Dara said.

"If you want a child to order around go have one of your own. Leave my son be." Angel said in a slightly elevated tone of voice.

Just about everyone knew that Dara Dara and Triskull didn't have kids, or were married; the last that she had heard, her grandfather was trying to get to the bottom of the two's issue in not doing either—both he and his wife loved the issue of being grandparents and would love to have more grandchildren to either dote on or drive crazy. Triskull kept saying that he was too busy to think about settling down, or to make any kids with anyone, while Dara Dara kept saying that she hadn't yet met Mr. Right—like any other adult, though, they had their moments where they "entertained" the opposite gender.

The truth, both she and her grandfather knew, was a lot different than what the two claimed it was.

Some people didn't marry because they didn't see the point in it—why marry when, some years down the road, you're to get a divorce or start hating one another? Some people also didn't like the commitment involved in the game of marriage, or in child raising, while others were scared of the unknown—was a divorce to happen; would children happen, or would I have some issue that'll keep me from having children; will my spouse stay faithful, or will he cheat sometime down the road... For Dara Dara and Triskull, their real reason in not wanting to have kids was based on their older brother—since Master Vile had children of his own, and was keeping the family somewhat fresh with new blood, they saw themselves as not needing to put their lives to a stop to get married or have kids.

Angel remembered asking Triskull what he'd do if he found a basket, that had a baby in it, on his doorstep one day; the correspondence, which had been done via letter, had been replied with a phone call two days later. _I have nothing to fear on that; not only do I take the potion, that makes me infertile during the deed, but I also get my partner to drink it with me. I also say one of the known spells that makes a man infertile too, so I'm double insured on that not happening,_ was what he had said. She figured that Dara Dara, who been given the same privilege as Triskull in attending Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic, did the same thing—no question on what she did to prevent an unwanted pregnancy, or what she'd do if she found herself as being pregnant one day, had been asked to her.

"Excuse me for a bit—need to use the ladies," Dara Dara said while getting up from her chair.

"I'm quite surprised about how well-behaved your sons are, Angel." Whosla said after Dara Dara left their eating area. "How often did you take them out on the town when you, and they, were on Earth?"

"Not very often—with four growing boys to feed, the funds for eating at the nearby restaurants and eateries weren't all that available to be spent." Angel replied.

"If the occasion came up, we always tried to be on our best behavior." Bile said. "When we started being allowed to be more free in the towns that we lived near, we made the effort of going to a few of the restaurants with the friends that we hung out with—we always tried to bring something back for everyone after them trips were done."

"So whoever wasn't with us wouldn't feel like they've been left out, or forgotten." Lhaklar added.

"We'd be running for our lives if we misbehaved in public." Lazeer said before knocking his elbow into his brother's ribs. "Ain't that right, Tail-Boy?"

"For our lives and backsides." Hazaar said.

"Backsides? Angel! You didn't—" Bekla gasped.

"No, I've never used any type of weapon as a form of discipline on my children." Angel was quick in saying. "It was always discipline by words and by dish cloth."

"Dish-toweling, as we call it." Bile said.

While waiting for Dara Dara to return, and while diving in on what was on their plates, Whosla and Bekla pressed Bile and his brothers for details on their schooling. A confirmation on Bile having just Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic under his belt, while his brothers had both Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic and the University of Telepathy, was made before the mention on what all records they made while being in them schools was done. Again, the emphasis on why they hadn't gone to anymore schools, and weren't interested in pursuing further educations, was made—instead of getting some sighs, and head shakes, and then a lecture on why school was so important and why they needed to further their education, they heard nothing. The look of disappointment was seen on Whosla's and Zebyr's, Bekla's and Keibo's, and Vaiba's and Majeer's faces but nothing was said on their needing to further their schooling.

When the subject of what all powers they had was brought up, Tazir spoke of how he was to start training them soon—he mentioned what his sons were able to do in their powers but he didn't go into detail on what all they had.

"Planning on retiring from the conquering scene, Tazir? Or are you going to continue with being a conqueror." Vaiba asked.

"Right now, I'm semi-retired—I'll eventually return to it. With my family just being returned to me, I do want to spend some time with them." TazirVile answered.

"Sounds fair—with a conquest taking anywhere between three months to a year to complete, it wouldn't be wise for you to up and leave them right after they're back home." Bekla commented.

"Pardon me for asking, but which of the boys have you had the most issues with?" Whosla asked.

"Haven't really had any with them," TazirVile said. "As was natural, they were real nervous for a while before calming down—Bile and Lhaklar came around first while Lazeer was third behind them; Hazaar's still getting use to things."

"You've done well with them, Tazir." Cheshire said. What the man said next none of them was able to decipher; with the man saying both Hazaar and Lazeer's names, they were fast in figuring that he was talking about them. When their father replied to the man, he used the same language that he spoke in. While Lazeer's name wasn't mentioned, or heard, Hazaar's was; Lhaklar was fast in figuring that the word fohlngue meant fine in whatever language was being spoken.

Most of them went on in eating; conversation was put to a stop. For Angel, the nervous feeling, that had gone away after conversation was started at the table, was both stronger and more foreboding than what it was earlier—where was Dara Dara, she wondered.

Nearly seven minutes had passed; either something was up or she was becoming a bit paranoid—bathroom breaks didn't last this long when they were done in a public eating establishment. People who used public restrooms typically wanted to use the bathroom fast and then get out fast; they didn't want to linger or "party" while being in them bacteria-leaden areas.

Dara Dara, Angel knew, didn't experience the typical issues that women went through each month—she didn't have a monthly flow, or bleed after an unfertilized egg met against the uterine walls. The reason for this was very easy for anyone to figure out—Dara Dara took a potion that kept her eggs from being released from their ovaries. The woman who took the potion was, essentially, infertile until that potion was either discontinued in being used or left their system—Dara Dara took the potion once a month and, she did believe, she was fast in marking whenever it was to leave her system on a calendar that was located somewhere in her small cottage.

With this being known to her, she knew that Dara Dara's lengthy visit to the bathroom wasn't related to her flow or in her needing to clean herself up and then put in a new tampon or replace a pad. Either Dara Dara was having some other issue, that was health related, or something else was going on.

"Honey," TazirVile said after seeing that she wasn't eating anything. "something wrong? You aren't eating."

"Just waiting for DD." Angel replied. "Worried about her—it's been a while since she went off to the bathroom."

"Hope she's alright," TazirVile said. He had actually forgotten all about his niece's trip to the bathroom. "Go on and eat, My Love. Don't let your food get c—"

"Yes, food that's been cooked only to be allowed to grow cold isn't the best of cuisine for _my_ wife or son to be eating."

The low voice, that Angel and her sons knew all too well, was no more heard before the curtain, that was around their area, was swept to the side. The figure that walked into their area was both menacing and quite large; she, and her sons, gasped after seeing him while everyone else gave him quiet stares.

"I had a feeling that you two were up to something!" Angel exclaimed at Dara Dara, who was standing just behind her father, and Triskull, who was still seated in his chair.

"Dara Dara! Triskull! You couldn't wait it out for a few more weeks—you just _had_ to bring in trouble and _cause_ trouble." TazirVile said while getting up from his chair. He glared at his niece and nephew before turning his gaze towards the one who was interrupting his and his family's meal. "Vile, beg—"

Lazeer was fast in shooting up from his chair and then running to where his mother was; the man, who had just barged into his family's eating area, had taken a gold stick, that had two, horizontal prongs on one of its ends, out and then swung it at his father. A pink energy flew from the stick's end; his father was fast in yelling after it collided with him, and after it sent him flying away from their area.

When the stick was dropped from its angle, he saw that the end that the two prongs were on had a bubble on it from which the two prongs were connected to. The stick's other end resembled an axe, and it looked quite sharp to boot. While the stick didn't look all that sturdy, or powerful, its wielder was, which made him be more than a little scared for both himself and his family.

Lhaklar, Lazeer noted, had done the same as he in leaping from his chair; unlike he, his brother had charged from their area, going in the direction that their father had been sent in. His brother was gone for five seconds before reappearing—the curtain was pulled down, Lhaklar was seen as standing two to three feet from it, then the man who was their sire was seen as making his way around the table, which most of them had evicted after he was seen as being attacked.

"Tazzy!" Ashaklar screamed. Along with being held back by Keibo, she had gone a shade paler in the face. Don't you d—"

"You have _no_ right in wielding a wand in this establishment, or in assaulting me!" TazirVile snarled at the older of his present nephews.

"I'm the ruler of this planet, which means that I can do whatever I want." Master Vile said while tapping the top of his wand into his hand. "If I so wish it, I can turn you into a pile of ashes or make your body go from being flesh to cardboard."

"What's your purpose here?" TazirVile demanded to know. He was just two feet from his nephew.

"Angel and Bile," Master Vile said. He nodded his head at the two that he had just referenced. "My daughter, and Family Mate, and our son."

"By my decree, you are to leave these premises and—"

Angel took four quick steps forward before stopping and then returning to standing before her children; seeing Tazir being treated in the way that he was both infuriated her and caused her to feel fear. Her father's wand was swung, then the same essence was emitted from it; Tazir was sent flying from the area once again when it struck him. He came very close to sailing through the kitchen's double doors, that was how much power her father had put into his given attack!

She had no wand; while she could use her powers she was utterly defenseless against any attacks that were used via a wand.

Cheshire, after seeing that his wife was safe, rushed forward; the man jumped onto her father's back, which was turned to him, then he held on for dear life after the man started bucking like a bronco. Master Vile did a complete circle before stopping and then throwing his arm back; once one of Cheshire's arms was in his grasp, he grabbed it then flung the man over him. Cheshire Ubalki landed on the floor one second then was sent flying from their area—the table that he landed on had a family of four at it; he landed on the table, which split in two, then he simply lie still, breathing heavily and trying to gain his bearings.

Before Cheshire could get up, Tazir ran into view. He had his wand with him; when he swung it, a white strand of energy shot from it then sizzled through air before colliding with the one that it was meant for. Master Vile yelled after the attack hit him then he turned to face the one who had targeted him. Before he was able to swing his own wand, and either get into a fight or create some pain, it flew from his hand; Angel watched as the wand came towards her, then she turned after it flew over her head. When it landed in Hazaar's hand, she couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in him—Hazaar had gone to work in protecting his daddy.

"Give it to me you little wimp!" Master Vile snarled at Hazaar.

"What, scared that without your wand you can't dish out more pain?" Hazaar asked while holding the wand in a mock-like way. He had used his Elemental Air powers to make the wand fly out from the man's hand; the use of his Telekinesis, which he had learned when he had been a student at the University of Telepathy, had done the trick in making the wand come to him.

"Give it to me or you will—"

"Give me the wand, Hazaar." Angel said. She didn't wait for the wand to be given to her; she took it from her son then she turned to face her father, who was glaring at her. "Ashaklar, can you take everyone from here? I'd like to have a talk with my "famous" old man."

"I think you should come with us," Zebyr said. "That way you're s—"

"No one is permitted to leave this restaurant until I've seen and spoken to my wife and son!" Master Vile shouted. He glanced at Tazir, then at Cheshire, who was now struggling to leave the table that he was lying on, before holding up a pink crystal. "You do know what this is, Zebyr?"

Zebyr knew well what it was; the Lock-Down Crystal, while being no bigger than one's wallet, and while having a pulsating pink glow to it, was something that conquerors used to either protect their civilians or punish them. Whenever a planet in a galaxy was conquered, a crystal was made that could control the windows and doors of each of the planet's present buildings—people could be contained in the buildings if the new ruler of their planet wanted to protect them from potential war-crimes, or from riots or other unrests, or they'd be contained in them as a way to break their spirit. The new conqueror, if the latter was used, would keep his, or her, civilians in them locked-up buildings for a few hours to a week or so before finally relenting in letting them go.

Tazir, he knew, had a crystal for each of the planets in his three conquered realms; unlike the conqueror of his birth and home-galaxy, who was very free in using them, he had only used them a handful of times, and only when he saw true cause in their needing to be used.

If Master Vile had one of them Lock-Down Crystals on him then that meant only one thing: the building was locked up tight. They weren't able or allowed to leave it until the man's unknown business was squared away.

"Fuck the crystal!" Angel thought before swinging her arm.

The people behind her, to the left and right of her, and before her screamed after the floor that they were on flipped over with them still being on it; the people that she had just scared would find themselves as being very confused, but safe, a second later, after finding that they weren't in the building anymore. Since she had a fear of her father having people stationed outside the building, possibly waiting for her unprotected, or guarded, family to come out so they could harm them, she retained the interest in using her Elemental Ground powers to evict them from the building.

After the building was sans most of its patrons, Angel looked at her father; the man was coming right for her and, judging by the look that was on his face, he wasn't happy or pleased with her.

"Your figure is slim, I see." the man said after stopping before her. "I like the bigger breasts; hips aren't as wide as one who's given birth as many times as you have, which, I view, is a good thing."

Though feeling a certain tug in his heart, and a certain tightening in his groin, he was disgusted by the woman before him; helping the civilians escape him, and wearing such filth as she was. Yuck! He saw her as wearing nothing more than peasant's clothes, which weren't all that fitting to her or her pedigree. The jeans were black and green—the goo design, if one wanted to call it that, was poorly constructed in his mind—and the blouse was a plain dark green color. The top of her blouse was low; he was able to see some of her breasts, which he did find himself as liking. The shoes matched the outfit, and were quite tacky and ill-maintained in his mind. The bottled liquid, that hung from a drawstring, that was around her neck, was the tackiest of the tacky on her—he wanted to rip it, and the silly ring that was on her left hand, from her.

After taking in her figure, and her outfit and "jewels", he swung his arm at her; his daughter, who he had forcibly married out of Family Law, and who had one child by him, winced, then stepped back after the wand was snatched from her.

"It's a good thing that you've got a slim figure," Master Vile said after taking his wand back. "You need no more children by the fool that you're also married to. Only good blood should be birthed by you, not bad."

"I have no badly bred children." Angel returned. She was very annoyed with the words expelled by her father; before her disappearance occurred, he hadn't accepted any of the boys sired by Tazir as his grandsons. It looked like that was on-going now.

"Really?" Master Vile turned to look at Lhaklar. "Tall, thin, and disproportioned." he turned his gaze towards Hazaar. "Short." he turned to look at Lazeer. "While having a decent height to him he's too lean... and deformed." after saying this, he turned to look at Angel. "Everyone can see the illnesses that they carry, Angel. You left My Galaxy for a bunch of misfit children!"

"I see that you've changed none since my disappearance." Angel rolled her eyes. "You was the cause of me leaving with the boys. You threatened me... said that you was going to take me from my children. That, in itself, is enough to warrant me doing as I did."

"If you hadn't whored yourself out to my—"

"I did not whore myself—"

"—uncle, or had allowed him to do as he did with you, them three non-desirables wouldn't be here. And I wouldn't of gone to do the matters that I did in threatening to take you from them either." Master Vile's yell overshadowed his daughter's a little too well.

Up to now, he had only seen the man in a photograph; as he went wide around his mother, he trained his eyes on him. Vile Vile, who preferred for everyone to call him Master Vile, was, technically, his grandfather—he was glad that the man didn't accept him as his grandson because, like his brothers, he didn't like him; no acknowledging on any of their parts on the man being a grandfather of theirs would be done in this life or in the next.

Master Vile was a tall, six feet, five inches; he looked to weigh around what Bile did. Like Bile, he had a bi-color skin complexion—the left side of his head, which was the only part of him that he was able to see, was gold while the other side of his head was dark blue. His ears were elongated, like Bile's, but, unlike Bile's, they ran the entire length of his shoulders—they were a golden color; the black, Tiger-like stripes, that were on them, did stand out rather well against that color. The man's face had a humanoid-like nose and lip structure in it while his brow was thick. His eyes were a glowing golden-yellow color; the pupils were small and black—these eyes, he was fast in noting, held quite a lot of intelligence, experience, and anger in them.

The robe, that the man was wearing, was black; along with having a cape on its back, it went to the floor and looked rather baggy in the sleeves. The accessories, that were worn over the robe, were the only things that had "color" on them. The shoulder wraps were a dark blue color; on their edges was a single snake head that, every so often, would either nip or nudge against the man's chin in affection—the one that was to the left of the man's chin was gold while the other one was dark blue. The scarf, that was around Master Vile's neck, was dark blue while the two kerchiefs, that were under it, were either a dull red or gold color.

Except for the gloves and breast-plate, that was all that had color to it; the breast-plate was a mostly dull gold color—the few small, circular areas, that were near the plate's chest area, were an aqua blue color while the ones that were near its waist were ruby-colored. The gold chain mail, that hung from the plate's rib area, had a few things hanging from it—a gold chain, for starters, and two tassels, one being white while the other was a fiery red color. He honestly wanted to rush forward to evict the red tassel—while he didn't know where the other one had come from he did know that the red one had, at one time, been on his mother's head; the man's mother had made a bunch of braided tassels out of his ma's hair and then handed them out like they were trophies or souvenirs.

The gloves, that were on the man's hands, went to his elbows; they were a dull gold color—the long fingernails, that came out from the holes that were at the ends of their fingers, were a dark blue color and looked rather sharp. The man had a pair of blue-tinted glasses on his face and, hanging from his ears, were six earrings of various designs.

"Don't look so tough with them specks on your face, or with them earrings hanging from your ears—Granddad Duru and Grampy Shaam look good with their ears pierced while yours look deformed." he thought after taking all of this in.

Angel's eyes grew wide when she saw that the man who was both her and her oldest son's father was going towards her three unprotected children; she yanked herself in the direction that he was going in then she received a surprise.

Master Vile, who had obviously been waiting for her to make such a move, wheeled around then flashed his arm at her. She screamed all while flying towards the podium where the bill for the meal that she and her family hadn't really been able to eat had been paid at; after colliding with the floor, she slid a ways before, finally, coming to rest against the corner of one of the buffet carts.

"Ma!"

Bile wasted not a second in rushing forward; he was angry, he was shocked, and, above all, he was worried for his mother—after slamming against the buffet cart's corner, she screamed then started struggling to get up... it was like one of her legs was injured enough to prevent normal, leg-based movement from happening. His father, after hearing him as coming towards him, turned then flung his wand at him; he evaded the blue band of energy that was coming for him then, like a football player, he barreled into the man with all of the strength that he could muster.

After colliding with the man, then pinning him under him, he started pummeling him with his fists.

"Bile!"

He started off as being strong but was swiftly beat back and then found himself as having to either rebound from the man who was now attacking him or go on the offense; she, who knew that he'd not last long under the impressive strength that was possessed by the one that was their sire, struggled to her feet then limped towards them.

There was something wrong with either her right hip or leg—after colliding with the buffet, she had felt a roar of pain shoot up that leg and then center around the hip to thigh region. Seeing as her son needed her, she forgot the pain.

Master Vile had her son on his back now; he was pounding on him quite mercifully. Keibo was holding Lazeer back, and Zebyr was trying to keep both Lhaklar and Hazaar back; Majeer was herding the women to a safer area while Tazir and Cheshire were going towards to fighting duo. Before the two got to them, she stopped then reeled her hand back. When her hand was shot forward, a ball of red-hot fire zipped towards her father, who was fast in howling after it struck him.

She had a fight on her hands to keep from laughing because, after her father turned to look at her, Bile took advantage; he leaped up from his near-splayed out position on the floor then he grouped his hands together. Master Vile was taken down after receiving the blow that their son gave him; Bile, quite surprisingly, stayed where he was after the man was down.

"Bile!" Angel screamed, then made the motion for him to move away. Her given movement caused her balance to leave her; the leg, that was giving her grief, screamed in pain after she fell to the floor.

"You little brat!"

He could care less about punishing his son for what he did to the little queer, and his stupid family; Trobrencus, he thought, deserved all that he had gotten... and, honestly, he thought that he should of gotten more than what he received too. The same went with his wife and that prissy punk son of theirs. After turning his attention back to his son, he got up then grabbed him around the neck; Bile was pushed against the wall and then given a good round of punishing—with his youngest son being so big, normal discipline wouldn't do the trick on him. Bile needed the rough treatment and by the Gods was he to get it on this day!

He was a different father than his own; while his father hadn't let him, or his siblings, enjoy any of their childhood years, and while his father had kept him and his siblings up into the late night hours, training and studying the books, he was a much more lenient and, he thought, patient and understanding father. He had let Rita and Rito enjoy their kid years, and he had also been less tough and surely on them when it came to their needing to be trained with their powers and to their needing to study the books.

Regardless of his being a much more lenient, patient, and understanding father than his own, he knew when it was time to ring out a punishment—Bile, in his eyes, looked like him but he had his mother's personality; he saw his son as a flighty being... someone who used their temper over their good senses and someone who thought that fighting was always the way. He, long before receiving his sister's call on where Angel and Bile were, had decided to "train" him into not being this way.

A temper was a good thing to have; it aided a conqueror but it was also a big disability too—someone could take advantage of that temper, and use it to take their opponent's strength down, or to end their opponent's life or, if it was a conqueror that they were facing, career. He didn't want that for his son; along with wanting Bile to be strong and powerful he also wanted him to know how to control himself when situations called for control to happen. It was time for Daddy to teach the Son, who had been raised by Mother for too long, and who didn't know how to go by being the son of a ruler, a lesson on how to handle himself.

His fists were swung a total of seven times, and Bile's were swung an equal amount of times, but there was a big difference between the two—while Bile's swings were felt, and did create some damage to his face, his fists were doing a lot more to him. He was just about to swing his fist into the boy's gut, to take the fight out of him so he could continue on with the lesson, when he felt himself as being yanked back. He groaned all while turning around to deal with his daughter, who he thought was the one who was preventing him from both disciplining and teaching their son right from wrong.

"Bile! Get behind your mother now!" TazirVile shouted after pulling his nephew from his adoptive son. "Lhaklar! Ha—"

Master Vile released the charge that he had been powering up; his uncle, rather shockingly, stepped out of the way then rushed at him. He readied himself for the near-funeral that was about to be created then, at the last possible second, he got a surprise.

Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer watched the events that followed next in total silence; until now, they had thought that the ability to move from one place to the next in rapid succession only occurred in movies. Their father, when he reached Master Vile, started moving from one place to another—he'd form in one place, then he'd disappear only to reappear in another and so on and so forth. Master Vile looked a little funny going from one area to the next; he was trying to catch their father, and beat him up, and he was just not able to do so.

Their father did this move of his several times before solidifying and then going forward to end the fight. The kick, that went into Master Vile's face, caused Master Vile to fall to his knees while the one to his groin did the trick in making the man's urge in wanting to fight die. When their father's opponent was down, and was more concerned with his groin, their father turned towards them. He came towards them right when their mother got to her feet.

"I didn't know that you could do bullet time, dad." Lhaklar said. Bullet time was a thing registered by the movie company called Warner Bros; the movie, The Matrix, had two scenes in it where Keenu Reeves had made time go slow so he wouldn't be hit by bullets.

"Time Warp, not Bullet Time." TazirVile corrected his son. "Bile, you alright? Anything broken?"

"Not that I know of." Bile said. Along with having a right bloody face, his nose was lying over to where the right side of his face was and his hands looked pretty rough. Regardless of these injuries, he was talking and moving about normally.

"Baby—"

"Something's up with my right leg, Tazzy." Angel relayed. After saying this, she turned to look at her father. "I don't want him anywhere near my children. Tazir, tear up his invitation—he's not coming within a football field of my sons!"

When the laughing met their ears, they searched for its cause. Master Vile was now sitting on the floor; his hands were clamped between his legs, and his mouth, while in a grimace, wasn't being used in a laugh-like manner—with this being known, they turned their gaze to the others in the building. Whosla, Bekla, and Vaiba's mouths were all shut, so it wasn't coming from them. While Majeer's mouth was slightly open the laugh wasn't coming from him either and the same went with Zebyr, Keibo, and Cheshire, who were now working to keep Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer from charging towards their mother. Ashaklar and Qeeta, while having their mouths open, and while breathing a little on the heavy side, weren't the ones behind the laugh either.

With her sons being noted as not laughing, and with her and Tazir also being counted out as being behind the laugh, she turned to take in the final two that were in the room. Triskull, she saw, had a stone-like look on his face while the one who was beside him had something up to her face—it took her all but a second to realize that it was Dara Dara who was laughing.

"I got it! I got it all, Vile. From start to finish, just like you asked." Dara Dara said while laughing.

"Keep that camera rolling!" Master Vile shouted. His shout was mostly caused by the pain that he was feeling; his sister, nonetheless, continued to both laugh and record what was going on in the room. In all, it took around twenty or so seconds before he pushed himself to his feet then turned to look at Angel. "Foolish girl—you do seem to like going against the rules placed upon you."

"Let's get out of here." Angel said. She limped towards her children then, when she got to them, she gave each of them a hug before turning to escort them from the building. "Before anything else happens, please."

"And here you are, leaving without staying long enough to speak to the man who married you first." Master Vile said. After seeing that she was intent on doing as she was, he said, "You'll find yourself as lacking them four kids of yours if you leave the restaurant so I suggest you stop and speak to me." when he saw that she was still going towards the door, he reached into his robe; when his hand was withdrawn, an envelope was neatly nestled in it. "Triskull, do please stop my daughter. Give her this—it's very important, and she is to read it fully."

"Angel needs medical attention, and I think we've had enough of you, and of your brother and sister." TazirVile said while Triskull went forward to do as he had been requested to do.

The happenings in the restaurant hadn't been expected by him; up to a few seconds to a minute or so ago, he had figured that the outing was to be a normal one and that his sister just wanted to attend it to both get in a new piece of scenery and some fresh air into herself. He had neither worried nor concerned himself with what may or may not happen after the group entered the restaurant, or even after his sister went off to use the bathroom. Now that the chaos was over, he had a feeling that his sister was a quarter to around half the mastermind behind the events that had only just concluded—with Vile being as smart as he was, it was possible that Dara Dara was just a "pawn", or messenger, as well.

At the time of his exit of his uncle's mansion, he had only known that something was up with Trobrencus and this one Goblin who seemed to not want to leave him alone—along with trailing Trobrencus like a shadow, the man had also been flirting and making him feel uncomfortable; before leaving to go to the car, he had seen Trobrencus swinging his cane at the man and then going to grab him by the throat. After leaving the mansion, then getting into the car, he had decided to imitate what his sister was doing.

He should of known that Dara Dara and Vile were cooking some scheme; Dara Dara, though slowing down in using the phones that were in Tazir's house, had been using her cellular a lot lately. After hearing that most of the TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit family were headed out for breakfast, and that his sister was going with them, he had made the decision to tag along—along with wanting to leave the house, he had been curious about why Dara Dara was going with them. With the scheme looking to be out and exposed to all who were still in the building, he couldn't help but feel happy and sad to be here—these two feelings meshed in well with his finding himself as becoming apart of what was going on; regardless of these feelings, he went towards his brother, then snatched the envelope from his hand, then went in the direction that his niece, and her children, were headed towards.

"Hey handsome, have any interest tonight or going solitary?"

It was probably this that was causing him to go along with what was going on; the Trakeena fiasco, that he had sadly become apart of, had come very close to costing him a brother and a family. The woman, who had been looking to get revenge on the Galaxy Rangers, who had taken her original form from her, had made her rounds with nearly everyone in his family before finally making her way to his doorstep—instead of just asking him for his assistance, or ordering it from him, she had seduced him into sleeping with her and then pulled the wool over his eyes by saying that she was pregnant with his child. Only after seeing a vial of what-he-believed was the potion that he and she had drank had he believed her and then agreed to team-up with her in getting revenge on the ones that she was out for.

While Trakeena had been successful in getting her original form back she hadn't been successful in getting her revenge or in trying to take his brother's planet over; he had come to be humiliated after hearing that she wasn't pregnant, and that he had been duped into becoming her lackey, and in being a potential usurper of his brother's realm—he loved Vile, and he looked up to him like any other little brother should... The act of his playing dead after chickening out after a small round of fighting the Red Galaxy and Light Speed Ranger was also a good addition to his humiliation; the scolding from his brother, followed by the ten years of his not hearing a word from him, had given his conscious a horrible scare. Getting yelled at by his parents, and then coming close to being disowned, had also had a hand in his humiliation and fear.

He had done a lot to get back to being on his brother's good side and, honestly, he wasn't all that happy with where he stood with him now; while he hated the idea of doing it, he was willing to put his relationship with Angel on the line to gain his brother's favor, and to regain some of how things had been between them.

"Hold up. Hold up, hold up now!" Triskull said after Angel tried to bypass him. When she continued with her act in trying to pass him by, he shoved the envelope into her hand then held her steady; her children, he noticed, gave him angry looks while she simply stared at him.

Triskull refused to leave her alone, and he was very against her not looking at the envelope's contents; the man, along with staying before her, practically opened and then shoved its contents at her, so she had no choice but to see what was in it.

While taking the pieces of stapled paper from Triskull, she remembered all of what happened when Tazir went to adopt Bile; instead of doing the adoption in the M-51 Galaxy, like she did with Eshal, and instead of having no issues during the process of adopting her son, her husband had been met with one problem after another and he had taken to doing the adoption through a court system that was on Edu, which was in the nearby Eyelash Galaxy. Her father, much unlike Eshal's own mother, who hadn't said a thing during her adoption of her daughter, had done all that he could to prevent Tazir from adopting Bile—the simple tactic of threatening the man, and in bribing him, and in creating lies that he thought would prevent the adoption from happening had been done; when her husband continued to be steadfast in adopting Bile, her father turned his attention towards the judge who was presiding over the case. In a lot of ways, it had been her father's actions with the judge that attracted the attention of the Elder Courts—after hearing what he was doing, then getting testimony on it actually happening, the order for his to be supervised whenever he was around their son was reinstated and then made permenant.

Her father had become a very bitter man after losing the rights to keeping Tazir from adopting Bile; after trying to overrule the ruling, and then make out a law that said that anyone of prominent backing couldn't adopt a child without the family's full consent, he had been summoned to the Elder Courts, where he had been subjected to go to yet another Anger Restraint class and then sign a contract, which had promised that he'd remain faithful to the order placed down on Edu for Tazir's adoption of Bile to go through.

With the envelope's contents out and in her hand, and with Triskull preventing her from going anywhere, she read what was on them. After looking at the first page, she knew that it was a court order of some sort—a stamp, that could only be given via a court room, was on the page and so was a judge's signature. After reading the first four pages of the stapled pieces of paper, her blood ran cold. Along with growing very angry, she almost started to cry after the fifth page's contents were read.

 _January 5, 4100; 7:45 a.m  
_ _Judge Presiding: Ojsalak Oofeac_

 _Plaintiff: Vile Vile (Present for hearing)  
_ _Defendant: Angel Irene (Not present for hearing)_

 _Due to recent events of the defendant, Angel Irene, it is hereby ordered by this court that she be kept under surveillance for the first six month of the year 4100; she is also to allow her father, Vile Vile, to see and interact with the child that he sired through her for three of the six months placed on this order. Angel Irene is charged with the endangerment of the lives of her four children by taking them from the M-51 Galaxy, allowing them to do harmful substances, and giving them the option of free movement both around and within their living area. She is also charged with going against the order, placed down by the Elder Courts, on her allowing her father a twice weekly, supervised visitation with their son._

 _If she doesn't comply with the orders placed by the Court System, located on 32450 Scraavit Lane, Gamma Vile, she is at risk of losing the custody of all four of her sons._

 _If she shall lose custody of her four sons, they are to be separated. The custody of one named Bile Vile shall go to his father, Vile Vile, while the custody of three named LhaklarVile Closhu Surfeit, HazaarVile Tlair Surfeit, and LazeerVile Zuluduz Surfeit shall go to their paternal grandfather, DuruVile Bolushi Surfeit. Any other subsequent children born to Angel Irene, shall she violate the orders placed by this court system, are to also be given over to DuruVile Bolushi Surfeit for raising._

 _Signatures of witnesses of this order:  
_ _Vile Skujik Vile  
_ _Dara DaraVile Similir Surfeit  
_ _Ojsalak Oofeac—Judge Presiding_

"I can't go by this... I wasn't told, or notified, about you taking me to court. You wasn't fair, dad!" Angel strained after reading what was on the final piece of stapled paper. Though angry, and about to cry, she was terrified over the possible loss of her children.

"Have you ever known me to be fair?" Master Vile smiled evilly. "That order was made a couple of days ago—it's the ninth of the month so, if I wanted to turn you in for not complying with it, I can. It's fully up to you on what you're going to do in accord to it—you can either give me a verbal invitation to come over for my extended visit or you can choose not to and lose custody of our son in the process."

"This cannot and will not be adhered to," TazirVile said after taking the pieces of stapled paper and then reading through them. "By law, you are to give her a few days notice before a court hearing is done. Angel had no notice—nothing came in the mail, and no one called to tell her that—"

"If not for you blocking my number, she'd of known about it." Master Vile said. After saying this, he turned his gaze towards Angel. "So, is your silence my answer? I have everything of this meeting on tape—am I to sent it, along with a phone call and then written statement, after hearing that I'm not allowed to come over for my visit or are you—"

"Blast your ass!" Angel spat. She turned, then went off a few feet before stopping, sighing, and then turning back around. "Come by the mansion; bring your lot with you if you wish but, mark my words, if you or any of who you bring with you harm any of my children there's going to be problems between us."

"Baby, you don't have to adhere to any of the orders from this hearing," TazirVile said. He walked over to his wife then he tried to take her into his arms; she coldly rebuffed him. "You were given no warning, Angel! His number being blocked is nothing more than an excuse—you know this as well as I do. Court systems send out mail to the two parties involved in the upcoming hearing and you got nothing from the system that this came fr—"

"I'm not losing my kids!" Angel exclaimed. She gave her husband a stare before turning to look at her father. "Let us out of this damn restaurant—we've had about enough of you and your shit."

"See you shortly, My Daughter-Mate." Master Vile said. He said a simple phrase, then the pink crystal, that he was holding, glowed. Although the sound of the building's doors and windows unlocking was loud, Angel and her sons, and everyone else in their party, welcomed it. Tazir helped his wife from the restaurant while Cheshire and Ashaklar worked as a force in moving their sons along; of the seventeen in their group, only fifteen left the building. Dara Dara and Triskull decided to stay behind.


	32. Chapter 32

_It happened again... the seemingly normal shadows, that were on his bedroom wall, changed in the blink of an eye to form a rather confusing scene that, except for when he rolled over, didn't stop playing—even after snapping his eyes shut, then keeping them shut for a matter of either seconds or minutes, it continued to play. Like last night, when he saw that the scene was still going on, he rolled over—he stayed on his side for a couple of minutes before curiosity caused him to roll back to face the wall that it was on._

 _"Shadows don't manifest unless something's there to create them—there's nothing in my room that's moving like this, or that can make what's on my wall." he thought after seeing that the scene had paused itself after he rolled over, and after seeing that it had resumed itself after he had turned to face it again._

 _A sort of camp was able to be seen on his wall; he saw a makeshift tent, and a fire, and he also saw the foliage that was around the camp. It was quite odd that he was able to see the leaves and branches of the shadow-made trees and bushes move, and it was also odd that he was able to see the fire as it moved to and fro. Like with the previous night, he watched as the scene rolled; it was tranquil for a few minutes before a figure jumped up and then ran out of the camp's tent—this figure, whoever or whatever it was, ran all around its camp for a few minutes before stopping. The arms were up, and looked to be laced in whatever head-ware or hair it had on its head, and its shoulders shuddered a few times before going still; the figure remained still for around two or three minutes before turning and then starting the process of pacing before the tent that it had come from—the events that unfolded via the shadow ended there; a gentle breeze was felt as going across his face before the shadow disappeared._

 _Like yesterday, he wondered what he had just witnessed after the manifestation ended. He and his brothers, when they were younger, and either when a storm blew through, that took their power and left them with nothing to do, or when it was night and they found themselves as not able to go to sleep, had used a series of puppets, or their hands, to make all sorts of shadows appear on the walls of their rooms—momma would either become involved in their shadow making if a storm had come through or she'd come into their rooms after seeing the light under the door, which would only come from their having the shades from the room's placed lamps off their base, and then say for them to go to bed. He knew that shadows could be fun, and could also do wonders in tricking a person, but he also knew that what he had seen wasn't one playing around with him or something in the room playing a trick on him and causing him to grow unnerved._

 _"Go to sleep... somehow, you'll forget about it and—"_

"Better be careful—you know how Mr. Paranoid is with his car." Lazeer's voice dragged him from the memory that he was reliving. He was both relieved and a little annoyed over having the memory interrupted—he wanted to try to come up with a logical explanation to it and he also wanted to relive it so he could go on with his life. "If he catches so much as a whiff of you being around his "baby" he'll come charging like a mad bull."

"Yeah man, take our advice and look quickly." Bile said.

Lhaklar was fast in breaking out in a sweat after his two brothers warned him about the "consequences" of what he was doing; if he was caught in checking out Mr. Mean's car, he could well be grounded for eternity, or thrown in jail, or be hurt... or be thrown in jail and then hurt!

He and his brothers were in the garage; they were taking advantage of the opportunity in being able to take in the building's various vehicles—and, since none of the adults were in the building right now, to have a relaxing smoke and to check-in on the car that seemed to be off-limits to just about everyone who either lived, was visiting, or worked in the mansion. Master Vile, the man behind their mother's, and Bile's, creation, and the man who had been rather tyrannical in forcing his parents to let him come over for his extended stay, had shown up for his stay at around noon on the ninth of January, which was three days ago—along with showing a bit too much of his disagreeable demeanor, he was trying to take control of the house and boss everyone around.

Along with showing up with two suitcases, and a duffel bag, he had also been in a rather expensive Roadster Ford-like vehicle—while he had seen to taking his car into the garage he had plain refused to take his bags to his room, which was on the mansion's seventh level. After "seeing" Losal in taking his bags up to his given room, he had called for all of the house's children to follow him to the garage. After everyone was in the garage, and was before the vehicle that he owned, the man had said that if he caught wind of anyone coming near his Rod-T-Ster there'd be trouble, and not of the normal parenting sort either.

No questions had been asked on what all would be experienced if anyone decided to venture out to either look at or fool with the car; except for Baruk, and he and his siblings, everyone had nodded their heads after being asked if they understood—the act of most everyone breaking their neck in getting out of the building had happened next. Baruk, about four hours after his brother's arrival to the house occurred, had made the trip to the garage and then strode up to his brother, who had been smoothing a rag over the chrome parts that were on the front of his car at the time.

Master Vile and Baruk must have a better than grand relationship because no warning enforcements, or threats, were made after Baruk was seen as being a foot to a foot and a half from the vehicle; the man, along with letting the kid speak with him, and be as close as he was to his car, had asked him if he wanted to take a spin in it. About an hour after Baruk's ride was done and over with, Kaasa and Sudir had been seen as going into the garage and then being driven around in the car. Master Vile must have something against Duru and Cyla's kids because, when they asked if he could do the same for them in giving them a ride in his car, he had said no and then for them to scram. No further questions from any of the other kids on whether they could be driven around in the car had been asked—he, like his brothers, knew that the answer would be the same for them on whether or not they could be given the privilege of being driven around in the car.

"What do you see?" Hazaar asked after Lhaklar started looking at the car's interior.

He saw nothing more than a plain old normal car; the inside wasn't gold, or silver, or covered in semi-precious or precious gems—he saw chrome in several areas but that was all. The seats had black leather on them; the wheel's cover had a black and blue, smoke-like design on it; the carpet was black while the polyester siding and ceiling was a dark gray color; and the dash, and its instruments, had chrome on them. The Rod-T-Ster's exterior body was a mostly purple color; the flames, that were painted on it, were a light or dark gray color. Rather curiously, the hood was missing—while the engine could be seen, it had a type of glass, or thick plastic, over it that protected it from the elements. Along with having a chrome-detailed grille, fenders, and bumpers, the car had six exhausts on it—four came out from the sides of the car's front-end while the other two came out from the vehicle's back.

Everything on the inside, and outside, of the car was clean and spot-free; it had two front seats in it while, in the back, was a single seat that could fit just one person. The license plate, that was on the front and back of the car, said MVile43—he was fast in figuring that the M stood for Master while the 43 stood for how many cars the man owned.

"Nothing flashy, or too-crazy, going on in the inside—have to say that he threw a good hundred thousand for it." Lhaklar replied to Hazaar's question while moving away from the car.

"Looks like something that someone would just buy and then stash away in their garage—it looks too nice to drive." Lazeer said. "Don't think I'll be seeing you asking for or building a model of a car like that, Lhaklar. It doesn't look like—"

"Yuck! I'll stick with the classics, thank you." Lhaklar was fast in saying.

"Hey! Come look at this!" Bile, who had since moved off to look at the building's other vehicles, yelled. They were fast in moving in the direction that he was in.

Along with being glad to be away from the vehicle that Mr. Paranoid owned, they were glad to still be as close as they were to their older half-brother—Master Vile had sure tried to severe their bond to their brother and had also tried a bunch of other things since his arrival. After giving out the warning on what would happen if anyone was seen as being near, or tampering with his car, he had grabbed and then taken Bile to the side; he had said for him to both stay away from the "scrubs"—he, Hazaar, and Lazeer, and the Ubalki children—and to hang around the ones that had "good" or "desirable" blood in their veins. Bile had refused, which had earned him a good "slap" on the shoulder and then father-chiding. Almost immediately after taking Bile to the side, Master Vile tracked their father down then tried to hustle him into moving Bile's room to another portion of the house that wasn't close to theirs—when dad said no on that happening, the man had grown furious and then started throwing out the threats on what would happen if his request wasn't done.

The day following Master Vile's arrival was rather exciting; their mother and father, and Mr. Paranoid and his sister, Dara Dara, took a trip to Brol, which was in a Galaxy that wasn't conquerable. The old man had obviously stayed up all night to arrange a hearing for the four of them—the matter on the hearing that Mr. Ojsalak Oofeac oversaw was disclosed to three very powerful judges; it had only taken an hour for the court order, that stated that their mother was to be supervised for the next six months and that she was at liberty of losing them if anything came up that went against Mr. Oofeac's order, to be overruled. Master Vile and his sister were fined $5000 for their involvement in trying to cause court in-justice while Mr. Ojsalak Oofeac, who had also been called to Brol, had been fined $10,000 and then fired of his job. The charge towards their mother's inability to show up for her court case was also thrown out, so she hadn't had to pay a cent of the $2,500 fine that she had been given.

"Course, having his court case overruled didn't cause the man to back off from us." Lhaklar thought. "He resumed his shit right after he got back."

After Master Vile came over for his stay, and was seen as having a car, their father had made the decision to tell everyone else who drove and owned a car to bring one of their cars to the mansion—so to stave jealousy and to give the guests a little more freedom in having something to drive, they thought.

The van, that was five or so feet from the Rod-T-Ster, belonged to Granddad Cheshire; along with being big enough to accommodate everyone in his family it had a burgundy front-end, the rest of the vehicle had been painted to look like wood. The car that was behind the van belonged to their Aunt Qeeta; it was a nice and shiny black and silver color and, from what they were able to see, it's doors swung up instead of to the side.

The vehicle that was beside their Aunt Qeeta's belonged to Zebyr Verobari; except for being longer, and sleeker, it resembled a PT Cruiser. It was a dark green color, and it looked to be in better than fine shape. After making the decision to cross before the van, they saw that it was obscuring Keibo Sebatu's car—he owned something similar to a Nissan Cube, only it was a little longer and wider than the Nissan Cube and was a two-tone blue and yellow color. The vehicle that was behind Mr. Verobari's was owned by Bushon Bedali; along with looking like one of them Chevy Cruze Turbo Diesel's it was a mostly pale green color. The white stripe, that was painted on its sides, was the only other color that was on it.

"Hey!" it was a good thing that they had already smoked their cigarettes, or, in Bile's case, his joint, because it looked like they weren't the only ones in the garage. Majeer Doshluna, who had just entered the garage, was fast in walking down the aisle towards them.

"Mr. Doshluna." Lhaklar said after noticing him.

"Majeer, Lhaklar." Majeer said. "What're you kids doing in here?"

"Nothing more than looking at the cars." Bile answered. He was slightly annoyed over being asked why he was in the building—what, did he and his brothers not have the right in checking out what was in their living space, or was everyone being a paranoid with them?

"Nothing wrong with that—just as long as you don't touch. We don't need the likes of Master Vile carting you anywhere, or putting wrong hand on you." Majeer said. He smiled then went past them; they, after a few seconds passed, followed him.

"What is that!" Hazaar exclaimed after seeing the car that Majeer was now unlocking the door of.

It was a light gray color, and it looked like a convertible—the top, they saw, after approaching the car, wasn't like that of a typical convertible; it looked to open, or shut, in reverse, which they did think was unique. The trunk was big while the front-end was short. Rather interestingly, there were no tires on it.

"A Loremo AG," Majeer said after turning to see who it was that had commented on his car.

"Where's the tires?" Bile asked.

"Don't have any—the Loremo hovers on air when it's driven." the man said after opening the door then getting into the car. "Make room now, don't want to squash any of you."

They moved out of the way then watched as the man drove his vehicle from the garage; thanks to there being an aisle between the cars that'd allow the cars more than enough room to drive through, Majeer didn't have to worry about hitting any of the cars or having to pay for any damages that his car created after side-swiping another's. After Majeer left the garage they went on in looking at the cars.

In the row across from the one that Majeer's car had once been parked in were two very cool cars that they had to check out. While Trobrencus had taken to driving his car to the garage he hadn't gone into the garage after reaching it—either the man knew better than to drive a car like his into a building or their father had made a request for him to turn his car off and then teleport it to being in the garage. Trobrencus's car, right now, was a dark blue color and the windows were darkly tinted; when the car was on, or being driven, it was engulfed in flames from body to tires—he and his brothers, after seeing the car as being driven down the driveway, and then to the garage, had stopped to gawk at it. None of them had ever seen a car like it before and, honestly, they didn't think that they were to ever see a car like it, or that rivaled it, again.

The car, that was parked behind the one that caught fire after the key was twisted in the ignition, was also cool; it was owned by Trobrencus's adult son, Trivit, who had made the decision to join the others in having a car of his own in the garage after hearing that everyone could bring one of their cars to the house. The car looked very much like a jeep only it had a rather pointy front-end; it was a mostly black color. The frame's artwork, which was either gray or orange, was very flame or smoke-like. They were fast in thinking that the car hovered on air too—like Majeer's car, there were no tires on it. The lack of a hood gave them the ability to see the full-chrome engine, which looked rather powerful to the naked eye.

"Well I'll be if the kids aren't in here." they turned on a dime after hearing the voice that belonged to none other than Qepax Veonim. Like Majeer, he went down the aisle then went straight to one of its cars; unlike Majeer, he beckoned for them to follow him. Since the man was rather nice, and pleasant to be around, they did so with no lip or hesitation given. "You kids ever hear of the LiPhaen-12?"

"No." they responded.

"Ever see one?"

"No."

Lhaklar, they knew, was fascinated by the car that was being shown to them; it had the body of a 1932 Lincoln Phaeton but it also had a rather wild design to it that set it apart from that vehicle. Instead of having any paint on it it was covered in nothing but chrome, so it was very shiny; the windows were normal-tinted while the tires were a bit too big for the vehicle that they held up. According to Qepax, the tires folded into the car after it was started—a jet system was put into effect right after the tires were in the car. There were just three seats in the car and the trunk was rather big.

Qepax was much like Majeer; after showing them his car, then telling them a few details about it, he got into it then said for them to step away so he could safely drive it from the garage. The man had no sooner left the garage before Pagnyar Palus came in; like Qepax, he took them to where his car was parked then showed them it.

Pagnyar's car, which was parked behind the space where Qepax's had been, looked almost like a convertible and a Mercedes. It was white, the engine wasn't able to be seen, it had two exhausts in the back, and the tires were very normal in appearance. When they asked if the tires receded into the vehicle they learned that, while they didn't, they did expel a yellow steam when the vehicle was in motion. Pagnyar had only come into the building to both check on his car and see if the building was able to withstand what was expected to happen in the next ten or so minutes; after seeing that his car was fine, and that the building was fine, he bid his good-byes then left to go back inside.

"I'm a sucker for the cars that have their engines showing." Lazeer said after moving to the next row of cars then stopping before the car that was owned by their uncle. The car was burgundy in color; it had big tires, that sat on hydraulics; and it had four exhausts in the back. The hood had either a plexi-glass or glass cover on it that allowed for the engine to be seen. "Not as shiny as the other engines that are able to be seen, but I can see that Uncle Kuruk takes good care of his car."

"You sure? The intake pipe looks a bit dirty." Hazaar, who had since convinced himself that what he was experiencing was either a dream or his mind playing tricks on him, said. He was standing behind Lazeer and was looking over his shoulder.

"Has normal coloration for a vehicle that's frequently driven." Lazeer replied before going on the pointing out what he was seeing on the engine of his uncle's car. "The alternator is new, and so is the belt that's on it. The motor mount looks to be a few years old, and so does the turbocharger and wastegate actuator. The transmission looks like it'll need to be replaced in the next few years and the spark plugs—"

"Lazeer found his newest flame!" Hazaar exclaimed while moving away from the car that his brother was so enthused in.

If not for Lazeer, and his interest in cars, or in pointing out what all parts that he was describing, he'd not know a thing of what he was saying; when they had been enrolled in Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic, Lazeer had taken a Mechanics class. Lazeer was rather gifted in knowing the inner workings of mechanical things, which sort of made him feel jealous. Whenever their mother's car was having trouble, she'd call for Lazeer's assistance before taking it to the shop—if he fixed the issue that was going on with her car, he'd find himself as getting a thank-you and an extra $10 in his next allowance; if he wasn't able to figure out the problem, their mother would thank him and then tell him that he did his best.

One time, when Lazeer wasn't available to help their mother in getting the new alternator on her car, he had stepped in for him; while it had taken him six hours, and had cost him some bloody fingers, he had gotten the thing on the car. It had lasted their mother for nearly four years before needing to be replaced again. If Lazeer had been the one to put that alternator on the car he wouldn't of had any hint of bloody hands and he would of done it in less time than he. Like Lazeer, he had found himself as getting an extra $10 in his next allowance for his troubles in putting the alternator on the car; momma had also thanked him for his "services" too.

The jealousy that he felt was normal; he knew that it was brought on by his knowing that his brother was smarter, and that he could do certain things either better or faster, than him—there was only a small handful of times where he had let his jealousy over this subject get the better of him.

"Bet Lhaklar's going to drool after seeing these." Hazaar thought after stopping before the two cars that were owned by his grandfather and great-grandfather.

Granddad Duru had a car that looked like a hybrid of the 1940's Mark VI Bentley and Mercedes Benze W15. The color was black on silver; the front-end looked like the Mark VI Bentley while the back looked like the Mercedes. There was a good shine to the car, so he knew that his grandfather was taking better than exceptional care of it. The tires looked new; when he looked in through one of the windows, he saw a dark gray interior.

Grampy Shaam's car was dark gray in color; it looked very much like a Delahaye 165 Figoni et Falaschi Cabriolet—Lhaklar, as expected, was fast in stopping and then gazing at both it and the Mark VI Bentley/Mercedes Benz W15. Seeing as his brother was so goo-goo eyed to the two cars, he moved on—one brother-made lecture on cars was enough for the day.

The building, before having the cars owned by the other members of his family placed in it, had had around fifty cars in it; he saw a few Model T-like cars, limousines, golf carts and tractors, and riding lawn mowers. The luxurious vehicles, that looked to cost one a pretty penny, had covers on them while the other vehicles were cover-less. Each vehicle was parked in a straight line, one behind the other, and always in a row that consisted of four cars. After he and his brothers looked at the cars—their mother's car really stood out among the more fancy ones, but they spoke none on this—they moved to the building's far back, where a line of another type of vehicle looked to be parked at.

"Holy shit—dad has motorcycles too?" Hazaar exclaimed after drawing the cover from some of the vehicles that lined the building's back wall.

"Either they're his or they're owned by Rubacon, Rito, and Lord Zedd." Bile said after looming up beside him.

"There's a whole damn line of them," Hazaar said in awe. There was around seven motorcycles in front of him.

"He has a row of carriages over against the wall as well." Lhaklar said. He pointed at the right-side wall, where there was a row carriages, which looked to have a fitted sheet-like cover on them.

The first motorcycle that they looked at had a resemblance to both a motorcycle and a car—the front-end was very Harley-like in appearance while the back looked like a Ford Explorer. It was yellow, and quite well polished, and it had just three tires on it—one in the front and two in the back. The thick plastic, that was before the vehicle's two back-seats, provided protection to the ones that were riding as its passengers. Judging by the license plate, that was on the vehicle's front, this was Rubacon Iovides's car.

The vehicle beside the hybrid had the looks of a Darwin but it also didn't have the inner workings of that type of motorcycle. The entire motorcycle looked to of been infused with a bovine's skeleton—the handlebars were the bovine's horns while the headlights looked out from the skeleton's eye sockets. The seat, frame, and shock were the spine and rib cage of the animal while the springs on the back, and the front tires, were surrounded by the animal's limbs. Going by the license plate, that was on the front and back of the vehicle, they guessed that it belonged to Rito—1Rito4U was what the two plates said.

When Bile yelled for them to come to him, and to see what he was looking at, they tore their gazes from them two vehicles then went down the line to where he was. Their brother was standing a foot or so to the side of a motorcycle that looked more than a little cool. It was either a black or a red color and there was tubing and all sorts of chrome on it; sticking out from both the front, back, and sides of the vehicle were a series of serated edges that looked eerily similar to spikes—the vehicle's two tires had them same serated edges on them, but they were shorter and less pronounced than the others that were on the car. The license plate, that was on the vehicle's front, had LorZedd on it.

After seeing the car, Hazaar decided to step closer to it—to get a closer look and to see if what he was seeing was real or not. He had no more crossed before the vehicle before jumping back—the vehicle, along with gaining a red glow to it, gave a sound that was similar to a growl.

"Well, we know that it's Jerk Number Two's." Hazaar said after distancing himself from the vehicle.

"Put your leg near the grille—see if it snaps at you." Bile said. He gave his brother an evil smile before turning his gaze back to the motorcycle that they were looking at.

"You first." Hazaar returned.

"Chicken."

"Am not!"

"Bawk bawk." Bile flapped his arms as if they were wings.

"Think most of these are owned by dad." Lazeer, who was walking down the line of motorcycles slowly, said. Only when he reached the final vehicle in the line did he stop. "Think this one belongs to Triskull."

It was one of them Lowrider type of vehicles; the seat was small, but looked very able to carrying one of Triskull's weight, and was black while the rest of the vehicle was dark green. There was a skull on the fender; the headlight was big, which would do wonders in lighting the dark streets that its owner and driver decided to drive down. The license plate had a chrome-chain outline on it, which they did think was unique; on the plate it said TrSkul2. The motorcycle's engine was clean, and very shiny, and looked powerful enough to make the vehicle go fast. After looking at the vehicle, Bile remembered seeing Triskull as driving it into the garage—the man, instead of wearing a helmet, had just had a pair of goggles over his eyes.

Lazeer, after looking at the vehicle that he thought belonged to Triskull, went up the line of motorcycles before stopping; the bike that he was standing before was a weird, burgundy-dark green color, and it had a sidecar attached to it. After taking in the license plate, that looked to have his father's name on it, he went to its side then grabbed its handlebars.

"I shall do my impression of Bile now," he leaned back, then opened his mouth to make himself look like he was screaming.

"No, he'd be acting like he has hair—his head would be back, and his invisible hair would be flapping in the wind." Hazaar said.

"Uh-huh, he'd be laughing like a maniac all while driving." Lhaklar said.

"You three are pathetic." Bile commented while going down to where his three brothers were. After reaching the bike, he grabbed the handlebars then leaned down; his eyes grew glassy, and his lower lip nearly overlapped the top one. "That would be me."

"And then we'd see you making out with the asphalt." Lazeer laughed. "You'd go right over the handlebars then you'd go face-first into the asphalt. We'd be asking you how it tastes after you've been brought in and then checked ov—"

"I'd do better than you," Bile said. "Least there wouldn't be a yellow puddle on the seat when I'm driving."

The crack of thunder was loud; they jumped after hearing it then turned to look at the garage's front. The old man had said that it was suppose to rain in ten or fifteen minutes—they had been in the garage for less than that so they should be fine... or so they thought. After Master Vile came over for his stay, they had been taken to the side and then told that they no longer needed supervision whenever they went out in the front—like with the back, they could go out whenever they wanted to... weather permitting, of course. Due to Master Vile and his entourage—his two, older children, Lord Zedd, and Thrax—spending more than enough time in the backyard they had made the decision to spend their outside time in the front yard. Along with finding a good spot to smoke in private, and explore the various things in the yard, they just came out to get some fresh air and to get a break from the mayhem that was going on in the house.

It seemed that Moas was a planet where the temperature was almost consistently in the mid to high-seventies; if they had been on Earth, there'd be snow on the ground and it'd be bitterly cold. They'd be throwing snow at one another, or building and then demolishing snowmen, or collecting snow for their mother's snow cream; they'd be shoveling the walk and driveway of its snow, and checking the roof and gutters to ensure that they weren't getting too overloaded with snow and icicles; and they'd be a little worried about the power being lost because of a limb or large icicle bringing down the power poles if they had been on Earth. Lhaklar would still be working at Kale's World, and their mother would still be working at Food Lion, and Bile and Lhaklar would still be entertaining the ladies, and they'd be allowed to go out on the town, or to the ghost towns that were around their lived-in town, after breakfast was consumed.

It seemed like forever since they had seen Earth; they missed it and the things that they had been allowed to do while living on it. Bile and Lhaklar were a little stressed out over not having anyone to "entertain"; Lhaklar was stressed out because the old man wasn't letting him be like he usually was; he was stressed out because no one was leaving him, or his lifestyle, alone; and Lazeer was stressed out because no one seemed to like how he was almost always funny or trying to brighten someone's day. There was no more hunting, or fishing; the act of their getting their monthly magazine issues was gone; they weren't allowed to smoke, or buy their smokes anymore; and just about everyone scoffed at the hobbies that they had an interest in or that they did to pass the time away. The only ones that seemed to not have a beef with them were their mother, Trobrencus and his family, and Bushon Bedali.

The good weather was about to leave them for a spell; according to their father, a "gully washer" was coming in sometime that afternoon, which would drench their area of residence for a total of four days before waving the flag of surrender and then dissipating. Going by the thunder that was going on outside, the storm had arrived before schedule.

"Well, best get in and see what's happened to my room." Bile said. He sounded right miserable, which they could concur with—they were all miserable.

"Hope that nothing's happened to it. You locked the door, right?" Lazeer asked.

Bile couldn't help but feel angry while leading his brothers down one of the garage's aisles; since the man's arrival, he had experienced issue after issue with him. He had heard a lot of verbal abuse, and had received a lot of threats of violence, from the man for the first few hours of his being in the house before the man's gaze was turned in the direction of the room that he inhabited. After entering his room, then giving it a once-over, he had said a spell that'd make all of his posters, resin models, music, and magazines be destroyed. He had come close to exploding after entering the room, and then seeing that all of his things were destroyed—instead of exploding, and then tracking the man down to teach him a lesson on respect, he had gone to retrieve his mother and adoptive father.

The two had taken care of the items that had been destroyed; a spell had been done to make everything go back to the way it was then he had been led to his room and then told to sit and calm down before going off to do anything. His things had been fine for all of an hour before his father came back for another go in destroying them—instead of entering his room like a normal person would, the man had kicked the door in and then gone to town. Like the first time, his mother and adoptive father took care of the mess by making it return to looking the way it had before his father came in then went crazy. His room had been fine for the rest of that day then, the following day, the old man had made a come-back in trying to destroy it.

Instead of tearing everything to bits, and smashing the music discs and models, his father had set the entire room on fire. All of his stuff had gone up in flames, and then become ashes in a matter of seconds before them flames dropped and the man left; if not for Zshon Zultoa, who had been on the level when he went to look into his room, he might well of put a hole in the wall. Mr. Zultoa had escorted him to Lhaklar's room, then his mother and adoptive father returned to his room to fix it up, then he had been approached by his adoptive father and then taken to the side. He had been asked to stay on the level for a few hours—to both calm down and to prevent his biological father from going into his room and then destroying it.

After being allowed to eat lunch in his room on the eleventh of January, he had found himself as having to do a face-to-face encounter with his father—the man had barged into his room and then raised his hand like he was about to say a spell that'd cause everything in the room to either disappear or be destroyed; he had reacted by jumping up and then rushing at him. Dark Dad, as he commonly called the man, had left his room a few seconds later with his hand firmly clasped over the eye that he had "viciously" attacked. His father, who was apparently terrified of his mother's Velociraptor form, had done a girlie scream after leaving his room and then seeing his mother, who was in that form at the time, rushing down the hallway towards him. Two hours after that encounter happened his father, who obviously didn't get the hint to stay away, had come into his room again—ma, who had been in his room and in her Velociraptor form at the time, had come close to severing his hand from his wrist; after biting him, then sending him down the hallway in a blind panic, she had said that he was to lose something else if she caught wind of his going into his room or destroying anything of his again.

Either the man was stupid or he just plain wanted to add insult to injury because, on the night of that day, he had plopped several pamphlets on his empty plate and then said for him to look through them and then pick one to go to—each had been about a school, that was either new or rather old in the Universe; after seeing what each pamphlet was about, he had said no thanks and then slid them to his mother. His adoptive father, after "filing" the pamphlets under his chair, had said for his biological father to back off and knock it off—so far, the man had done so... he didn't know when the man was to start his shit again so he was on his toes for anything that may or may not happen between the two of them.

"And when the clouds opened, they released a torrent of rain onto the landscape below." Hazaar said after the door to the garage was lifted and they were about to step out from it.

"Dude! Can it come down any harder?" Bile exclaimed.

"Is it windy or—" Lhaklar's question was answered when a gust of wind caught against the rain.

"It's going to be one hell of a mad dash to the porch." Lazeer said just before darting out into the rain. Along with getting drenched, he tasted grass after his feet shot out from under him.

One of his "prey" had run off before the chance in his suggesting that they play a game of cat and mouse could be made; without a second to spare, he ran out from underneath the garage's overhanging roof then went for his brother, who had since gotten to his feet. When Lhaklar and Hazaar left the garage, he put the brakes on then turned to go after them—Lhaklar was left alone to close the garage's door while Hazaar was fully targeted for chasing. Lazeer, when he finally reached the safety of the porch, turned then started cheering his two brothers on in keeping away from Bile, who was now "trying" to keep the both of them from reaching the porch—seeing as Lhaklar and Hazaar weren't trying to reach the porch, their brother's attempts were really for nothing.

It took a few minutes for Hazaar to get his fill of being chased; when he reached the porch, he was both drenched and, owing to his falling and then sliding along on the artificial blue grass, grass stained. He and his brother watched as Bile concentrated his energies on Lhaklar, who was now a distance from the porch and who was using a lot of agility; Bile laughed a non-miserable laugh while Lhaklar taunted—in a way, it was hearing the non-miserable laughter that caused the both of them to leave the porch and then resume the game that they had left.

Lazeer chased Bile while Hazaar chased Lhaklar; they did this for a short while before finding their older brothers as turning the tides on them. Bile slipped twice while chasing him—he went to his knees on the first while, on the second slip, he went to his side—then he decided to team-up with him in chasing after Lhaklar and Hazaar. Lhaklar looked to be going well until his feet flew out from under him—he fell, face-first, to the artificial terrain then, when he got up, he was noticeably slower and stiffer in his movements. When Hazaar went down a few seconds later, he skinned his elbow and chin open; a yell came from him before he got to his feet then started towards the porch. Lazeer had just fallen, and then rolled onto the driveway, right before Majeer, who was returning from wherever he was headed to, when one of the windows, that was on the house's second level, was thrown open.

"Bile! Lhaklar! Hazaar! Lazeer! Get your blue, green, and bi-colored booties inside and now!" their father shouted right when a lightning bolt, and then a crack of thunder, was seen and then heard.

They acted like they didn't hear his order for a few seconds before turning and then going towards the house; Majeer, though a sport in waiting for Lazeer to get up and then leave the driveway, didn't look very pleased with what they were doing or with the fact that he had come close to hitting one of them. After they reached the porch, then either shook themselves or rang their clothes to being somewhat dry, they went to the door then entered the house. The door was promptly shut behind them then they took to trying to act like they were innocent of what they had just done—which wasn't all that easy, being that it was the first activity that they had done where they had both been and felt free.

"I so needed that." Bile took a deep breath in before exhaling.

"Can't find fault or disagree with you—I feel as light as a feather right now." Lhaklar said.

"Same here." Bile gave his brother a punch in the arm. "Feel like I've just had a rousing session with a punching bag—all my stresses were let out."

"Might get the sniffles, or a cold, but what we just did was worth it." Hazaar said.

"Seeing us do the slip, fall down, and slide routine was just as much fun as the chasing around bit." Lazeer said excitedly.

"Looks like my four boys had some fun with the rain." they looked up after hearing her voice; their mother was coming down the stairwell that wound around the foyer's left side, Zshon was at her side. "I did my best to keep your father preoccupied so you could run around and play a little."

Bile wasted not a second in going up the stairs, or in "tackling" his mother in a hug; after hugging her, he went up to the second level then started down its hallway. His brothers followed in his example by doing the same—Angel, after receiving their hugs, said a spell that'd cause her clothes to go from being damp to dry then finished her descent. Seeing as she had nothing better to do, she went down the foyer's one hallway then made the turn onto the hallway that branched to its left.

Zshon Zultoa had been sticking to her side like glue all day; the order from her husband on one in her Circle staying near her had been given right after they returned from their disastrous outing at Whegnew's. Along with wanting to ensure that she was safe, he had also wanted to ensure that she was staying where she should be and that she wasn't being put under too much stress—if not for Eldass, he wouldn't of asked for one in her Circle to stay near her. Eldass, after learning that she had tried to "pass off" Elimination Demoniaque as normal conversation, and then talking to Bushon about why it had been brought up, had made the trip to her husband's office, where he had sat and then waited for her husband to return.

Losal had called Tazir time and again; even after Tazir told her to turn his phone off, he had continued to call—he had been so frantic that he hadn't left any messages on why he was calling so much. Mr. Khrelan had come down after they arrived home; though he did try, he hadn't been allowed to speak to her husband on what Homsi had told him earlier that morning—Tazir had made the decision to do a two-hour drive from Whegnew's before initiating the move on teleporting them home. She had been carried into the house, then to the medical chamber, and then placed on the table; her husband had only just started giving the table commands when the Goblin entered the room. Seeing as he wasn't able to speak to the man, Mr. Khrelan had asked Eldass to do so, which he had.

A fracture had been noted as being present in her right hip while the muscle, that was around the upper femur of that leg, had been bruised; the table had fixed the fracture but it hadn't been able to fix the muscle damage. Bile's injuries had been tended by hand. After she, and her children, were seen to the second and third level, Tazir went to his office—Eldass had been persistent, and rather loud, in telling him what he had learned and Tazir, after hearing what the man was telling him, had grown phenomenally concerned for her. Eldass, Homsi, Kalach, Zshon, and Losal had all been appointed the chore of staying at her side at all times after everything was out and in the open—except for when her husband was by her side, or when she was using the bathroom, she had one of them following her like a shadow.

"How is it that she picked this planet over Gamma Vile to raise our son on is beyond me—this is one of the worst planets to raise a child on." Angel heard her father say. Though she already knew where she was going, she still stopped to take in her surroundings; she was on the second hallway that branched off the one that came off the one that ran into the foyer, and she was just two steps from the house's bar. "This planet is nothing more than rock and water... it rains and storms periodically and—"

"There's nothing wrong with the planet, Vile. People been raising their kids here way before you wrongly conquered it." Angel heard KurukVile say.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me—a kid could well fall, or trip and scrap his or her skin on the rocks, or be swept out to sea after their parents' homes are overrun with ocean water. People have to cover the sharp, rocky terrain with artificial terrain, which is known to carry all sorts of parasites and diseases." Master Vile was fast in replying. "Moas is the eye-sore of My Galaxy—I should of destroyed it right after the galaxy was conquered."

"You never should of conquered it in the first place," DuruVile commented. "You went against tradition, and it gave you a bad name. It nearly gave all of us—"

"I'm a feared conqueror of world's—how did my conquest of this galaxy harm my name?" Master Vile snapped. "If you asked me, it helped my image. You idiots never thought of the rewards that such a conquest would do for you or yours."

"Traditions are to be followed, Lad. The one on our leaving our birth-galaxy be was forged by ChaboVile Relspin Shurfeet, who deemed it dishonorable, disrespectable, and disgraceful; he was fast in instructing his children to agree on leaving the M-51 Galaxy be and they—" ShaamVile started to say.

"Yawn."

"—agreed to it. We, through the generations, have honored his wish by leaving this galaxy be—you're the only one to not sign the contract, or adhere to the tradition that we've followed." ShaamVile finished.

"The very thought of conquering this galaxy has never crossed any of our ancestors' minds; what you did was more than disrespectful, disgraceful, and dishonorable." TrobrencusVile said. "And the fact that you had a book wrote up that has nothing but wrongly made information in it is worse."

Angel nodded her head; just about everyone in the family had read the book that Trobrencus had mentioned. Her father claimed that, before Duru was born, the Surfeit family was nothing more than peasant folk, which was very wrong. The Surfeit family, while having gone through numerous name changes over the years before LynkVile Brawsck Surfeit's birth, had been on the conquering scene for a long time—Chabo, the family ancestor behind the tradition of leaving the birth-galaxy be, was the start of their family being conquerors while his descendants perfected it. Except for the spouses, no one in the Surfeit family was a peasant anymore. The Surfeit family was among one of the M-51 Galaxy's most prominent families—and not just because they were rich or were full of folk who conquered other realms; it was that coupled by the fact that there was very little inbreeding in the line that caused the prominent status to be present.

Shaam, though showing her his book, and boasting about how non-inbred the line was, didn't really know that she and her oldest son were inbred; as far as she was able to tell, she and Bile were the only yester-year and current day inbred members of their family, which was pretty outstanding.

She stood before the house's bar room for a few seconds before Zshon reached up to tug on the bottom-portion of her skirt; after receiving that tug, then looking down to acknowledge him, she went into the room that her father, grandfather, great-grandfather, great-great grandfather, and Trobrencus were in. After going into the room, she found that it wasn't just them men that were in it.

"Ragamuffin," TrobrencusVile said after seeing her coming into the room.

"Will you quit calling her that!" Master Vile snapped. Angel was fast in stopping and in giving her head a shake; the man, though possessing a glass of Chontao wine, which was a red and white wine mixed together, looked like his usual non-happy self.

"Is it me or do you always get up from the wrong side of the bed?" she remarked while taking in the room's other inhabitants. Cheshire and his two sons, Efagti and Amadh, were off by their lonesome selves by the bar's far left side; Irka and Cyla were having a talk by the door; Tazir was behind the bar; and Bushon, Zebyr, and Keibo were standing by the right-side wall. After taking everyone in, she went to the bar, then rounded it, then started making herself a drink.

"Women who drink are usually bored or unhappy in marriage." Master Vile said. His mother and grandmother, non-surprisingly, turned to look at him after hearing his words; the two had a sort of champagne before them and, seeing as they were very happy with their husbands and lives, the man's words were more than a little out there. Master Vile ignored their gazes. "Where did you sleep last night?"

"None of your business." Angel replied.

The house's bar-room looked almost exactly like any old bar that was found in or around the towns of Earth; the walls looked like hickory but were really an imitation hickory, the ceiling was a light brown color, and the floor had a burnished copper finish to it that was quite shiny. The counter was placed in the room's far back; it had three nozzles, and hoses, built into it. The beverage case, that was behind the counter, contained all sorts of wines, champagnes, and other alcoholic beverages. There were around three or four, round-surfaced tables in the room; each table had two, matching chairs to it. The counter had six stools before it, which were all taken up right now. The three photographs, that were on the room's left-side wall, were all there was to the room's decoration.

With the room having a more manly feeling to it, it hadn't surprised her to see or know about Tazir hanging three photographs, that had her in them, in it. The first of the three photographs was of her from when she was pregnant with Lhaklar; Tazir was also in the photograph—he was holding her. Her hair was covering one side of her face and, due to her being naked at the time of the photograph's taking, a small bit of her uncovered breasts could be seen; Tazir and she had been having a romantic moment, which was why she was seen as caressing his chest in the photograph. Her belly, which, at the time of the photograph's taking, was pretty big, could be seen in the photograph's lowest frame. The second photograph was another from when she had been pregnant; she had been in the seventh month of her pregnancy—Hazaar had been the one that she had been carrying at the time. Due to Hazaar being fussy the night before the picture's taking, she was taking a much-needed dip in the house's bigger pool; the water, that was around her, was pretty, and her fiery red hair was casting its glow on everything around her. The braids, that Tazir had put in her hair earlier that day, were starting to come undone; she was wearing a green bikini that had ties on its back and on the sides of its bottom piece. The bracelets, that were on her wrists, matched the bikini well.

She remembered who it was that was responsible for the photograph's existence; Tazir had been upstairs at the time—he had been on the phone for most of that day so he hadn't been available to snap a picture of her. Mekaia Zultoa was the one responsible for taking the photograph, and for getting it blown up and then framed.

The third photo was a bittersweet one for her; it was of her from when she was pregnant with Lazeer. At the time of the photograph's taking, she was just barely starting to show. The reason to why this picture was so bittersweet for her was because, five days after it was taken, she gave birth to the one that she was carrying—it was like a You-Made-It photograph; she not only made it in giving birth to a living child, and in facing the horror that her premature birth caused both her, her husband, and their new son to go through, but she had also raised that prematurely born child into being what he was now.

"The one who does your shopping needs to be fired." Master Vile said after taking in his daughter's outfit. Other than the ring that his uncle had given her twenty-one hundred years ago, and the amulet that was hanging from around her neck, she was wearing a distressed, black olive suede skirt and a green and black blouse that had e-zon diagonal stripes on it. The gladiator-like sandals, that were on her feet, were the only things that he found himself as liking on her wardrobe.

"If you don't have something nice to say then don't open your mouth." Angel said. Zshon gave his head a nod; while, on certain occasions, there were a few who did his Mistress's shopping it was mainly her who shopped for herself. Zshon was about to make the move in leading his employer's wife, who had just rounded the counter, from the room when his employer's nephew's two, older children, and Rubacon, made an appearance.

He only needed to look at her to know that someone had said something to make her be upset; her face had an annoyed look to it and her eyes had a frustrated look in them. Rubacon Iovides, a man who had married the woman of his dreams over forty-six thousand years ago, had no choice but to shake his head after entering the room—he had witnessed first-hand the abuse that was going on in the house earlier that day and, honestly, he had grown very sick of it and very fast too. Unlike the others, who had come by for their visit after everyone was up and about, he and his family had dropped in after midnight; he was still embarrassed after getting here at that hour, and in waking everyone after both knocking and then ringing the bell. While he had been welcomed by Tazir and Angel warmly, he had been left in the cold by his grandfather-in-law—Duru had just been concerned about Tula and Salasari; he could care less for him or his well-being.

For a fleeting second, Rubacon saw his reflection in one of the tables that he walked by. He was much the same as he had been when Angel disappeared with the boys—his skin was as black as the midnight sky; his eyes matched his skin's complexion well; and he still had yellow crests above his eyes and red fingernails. He had come to be confused after Angel's sons did nothing but stare at him after being brought down for introductions—after a few, tense minutes went by, the four came forward to do the awkward hand-shake thing before backing off and then going to where their chairs at the table were. Angel, Bile, and Lhaklar knew him, and had seen him before, while Hazaar and Lazeer hadn't—along with not asking a word about the amulets that they were wearing, he had figured that the boys would come around in time to being friendly with him; if he had known a thing about their tormentor, or had been told about what the amulets were really for, he'd get an idea on why they did nothing but stare at him after seeing him. Being told about their tormentor might well of saved him, and his family, from the chaos that was to happen in the months to come.

"You look very nice this afternoon, Angel." Rubacon politely said.

"Thank you, Rubacon." Angel replied. "Look good yourself."

"Thank you," Rubacon felt Master Vile's hot eye on him; he brushed it off while going to take a seat at one of the available tables. Seeing as Tazir had the Bourbon bottle, he waited for it.

"She looks downright sloppy, if you ah—"

"You wasn't asked, Vile." TazirVile snapped. "Angel looks as Rubacon just said she does. There's nothing amiss on her."

"She'd still look disastrous even without that thing around her neck, and that ring of hers on her left hand." Rita Repulsa screeched.

"She'd look better if her hair was cut, and done-up some." Rito Revolto added. "She looks much too plain with her hair being as it is, and she looks like something that someone puked up with the outfit that she's wearing."

"My sentiments exactly!" Master Vile exclaimed.

When Bile entered the room, he didn't hesitate in going to his mother; the look, that was on her face, told him the tale of what was going on in the room. Being her son, and since he knew that his biological father, and older half-siblings, were in the room, he had a feeling that it was one or all three of them that was giving her grief. After seeing where his mother was, then going to her, he found himself as only being allowed to go halfway to her—Rita was fast in coming to him, and in grabbing him by the arm, and in pulling him to a stop.

He and Rita had already had a handful of negative encounters since her and her strange family's arrival; his impression of her wasn't all that good. Her voice was too screechy; she spoke with such hate towards his mother, which irked him to no end; and she was also trying to make him "behave" like the baby brother that she wanted him to be. She was so like their father—she wanted him to obey Dark Dad's every word; she wanted him to stay clear of Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer; and she wanted him to train hard, and to get ready for his next "schooling" adventure which, she claimed, wasn't to be as far or distant in the future as he thought it was.

Rita Repulsa, regardless of her actions and demeanor, was a pretty woman; her face, which was lightly tanned, was a little too covered up in makeup, her nose resembled both his and their father's, and she had brown eyes. Her hair was a light, but rather shiny, gray color; the orange ribbons, that were in it, kept it up in the cone-like setting that she wanted it to be in. Even though she didn't need it, she was wearing a black headband that had all sorts of gold swirl-like designs on it; he personally thought that the braided, light gray outer face adornment, that was hanging down from the headband, looked silly.

She was wearing a brown dress that had gold embroidery on the lower arms and skirt; the armor-like, flexible Madonna cone bra, that was over the top of her dress, was bronze. The dark brown neck frill, that was around her neck, and that had light gold, triangular-shaped designs on it, had blue feathers on its edges. He wasn't able to see her shoes but he was able to see her fingernails, which were long and purple-colored—they must of been given a coating of oil or something because they were very abnormally shiny.

Bile looked at the older of his half-siblings for only a second before taking her hand from him then going on to where his mother was. Once he was beside his mother, he grabbed her in a hug—all while hugging her, he felt the hot glare that his sister was giving him.

"Ma," he said after hugging her.

"Hello Biley." his ma said back.

"She turned him into a mama's boy!" Rita squealed. "She ran off with him, and with them other misfits of hers, then she turned each and every one of them into mama's boys!"

"Bile's always been a mama's boy—rather embarrassing, and disgusting!" Master Vile said. "I'm more concerned with the fact that she turned him against being evil, and not wanting to go further with his education, than with his still being a mama's boy."

"He should of grown out of being what he is a long time ago." Rita said while giving her head a shake. "He should of gotten over that stage when he was sent to Pronghorn."

"Separate him from her for more than two hundred years and he'll be—"

"No!" Bile was fast in yelling. Tazir flinched after his adopted son yelled, then he flinched again when his wife threw the glass that she had in her hand at Rito. While the glass shattered into a million pieces, and showered her brother with its contents, she was comforting her son.

While leading her son, and Zshon, from the room, Angel looked at Rito; except for being of the male gender, and being more burly in build, he looked very much like their grandmother. Rito Revolto Vile, or, as he preferred to be called, Rito Revolto, had a body that was very skeletal in appearance; like most of the Surfeit's, he was bi-colored—his left side was camouflaged while the right was white. The helmet, that was on his head, was apart of him; it was colored similarly to how his body was. His teeth were rotten, and he had no eyes in his face. The belt, that was around his waist, had small skulls hanging from it—except for the green bands, that were around his wrists, this was the only adornment that he was wearing. Rito, unlike their father and Rita, was quite dumb, and he had a foul odor to him to boot!

While Rita was sixteen thousand, two hundred, and fifty-two years old, Rito was five thousand, two hundred, and two years old; both were from the same woman—a Scordida Vener, who was their father's first wife, and who had died almost immediately after Rito was born. Scordida, from what she had been told, had met and then become something akin to a "sweetheart" to Master Vile when the two were students at a school called Dark Sorcery and Beyond; though staying together, the ring wasn't placed on her finger until five hundred or so years later. Master Vile proposed after conquering the M-51 Galaxy, and after being disowned by his family for his conquest. Rita had been born five or so years after the wedding took place—due to how difficult the birth was, Scordida had been said to not be able to carry to term, or have living, or healthy, babies again.

"Her uterus was ripped in more than two places during the process of Rita's birth... the doctor wanted to remove it but both she and Vile were steadfast on it remaining." she remembered Triskull telling her once.

With the two being so against the removal of her uterus, the doctor had just prescribed some pain medication and then said that the next pregnancy might be the one that takes her life. While the next two pregnancies hadn't taken Scordida's life they hadn't come out as being successful—both babies, which were of the female gender, were lost either very early on or during the second trimester.

Master Vile had never been one to have a doctor get fully involved in the care of the women that he was involved with or that he had gotten pregnant; he typically had three or four examinations done by his lived-in physician before sending him on his way—in regards to himself, he had his physician look after him, and his health, more frequently. When she was pregnant with Bile, he had only had his physician check her, and Bile, two or three times before sending him on his way—she imagined him as doing the same with the two women who were in his life before she came along. In all, it had taken over eleven thousand years before Scordida was able to have another baby—the warning by the doctor had proved true because, after Rito was born, she slipped and was never able to be recovered.

The story went that Rito was actually coming out wrong; his back was coming out first instead of his head, which had caused his birth to be stalled for more than two and a half days. The doctor, seeing no other option than to cut the woman open, and then extract the baby before trying to stitch the opening and then apply an intravenous drip, had done the Cesarean—the needle was no more put into Scordida's wrist before she succumbed to her sad fate. Before dying, Scordida used her final breath to name the child that she had just given birth to; Master Vile, though overjoyed in having a son, had been given a crushing blow after his wife died and, really, so had Rita, who had been rather close to her mother.

Rita, at the time of Rito's birth, was eleven thousand years old—instead of being out and on her own, like others her age, she had still been living under her parents' roof. Master Vile had raised Rito as a single parent for a while before finding and then marrying a woman by the name of Ursaline Flaxiwohm; while Rita had been rather close to her mother, and had loved her mother, she had detested the woman that her father had grown attached to.

"Don't know where his head was at the time but, yeah, he married a sorry sap of a woman who didn't really care for him or his children. She was quite abusive with the children and, though being affectionate, and claiming to adore my brother, she wasn't very faithful to him. About five thousand years after the two's marriage, my brother walked in on her screwing one of his enemy's—must of been well-taken with him too, because she had a five hundred and some-odd year old daughter by him."

Almost immediately after divorcing her father, Ursaline had married the man that she had been caught in bed with; nine months after the marriage took place, she had a son by him.

Triskull had been the only one to tell her how it had been for the two women that her father had taken to the alter; while being a rather pleasant and romantic guy with his first wife he had been pretty sore and neglectful of his second. He had also been too demanding of the two in the bed department—like Shaam, the man had a big sex drive but, unlike Shaam, who seemed to be very nice and decent with the women that he took to bed, he was a bit of an animal. His act of biting his partner, and digging his nails into them, and causing all sorts of open wounds to appear on them, had driven Ursaline from him; Scordida, while not liking the way he treated her in the bed, had let him do as he wished with her. While Scordida was rather comforting towards her husband, and did her best to bring his stresses down, Ursaline had fought a lot with him and had put a decent amount of distance between them, which, she liked to think, was the reason to why she latched onto the man that she was found as sleeping with.

She, being a sort of wife to the man, had tried to act as the supportive party of their marriage; a few years after Lhaklar was born, she had tried to talk the man's stresses out, and had also tried to get him to speak of his feelings—all he had done was snap at her, and tell her to mind her own business. Over the years, she had tried numerous times to talk to him only to have her attempts shot down the tube—along with wanting to talk to the man about how he regarded Lhaklar and Hazaar, and about how he regarded her, she had mainly taken the trip to see him on the year of Lazeer's conception to see if she could break the wall that he had built around himself; her attempt in talking to him had backfired, and rather nastily too. Along with being locked up in his palace for a week, she had been raped for five days of the week that she was with him. After experiencing that event, she had never gone to his place or tried to talk some sense or bring out his stresses and feelings again.

"Alright, you sit and try to calm down now." Angel said after taking her two tag-alongs to the house's smaller kitchen. She had her son sit on one of the stools, that were around the kitchen's island, then she turned to look at Zshon. "Mr. Zultoa, you too. There's no need for you to just stand around—sit, and relax."

"They're never going to stop, are they?" Bile asked after sitting on the stool. "Not until they either cause me to be so pissed off that more than a fist will be thrown or make me so depressed that—"

"Biley, the life that you have is yours and yours alone—live it the way you want to and don't let them or anyone else say otherwise." Angel said while going to where the cookie jar was. Last night, she had stayed up rather late to make a better than army-sized helping of chocolate chip, sugar, butter pecan, and apple cinnamon cookies; at the last second, she had also made a small helping of charcoal biscuits—Trobrencus and Trivit seemed rather fond of the biscuits while everyone else was going for the cookies. After taking four of cookies from the jar, she turned then returned to her son. She gave Bile and Zshon an equal share of what she had in her hand.

"Mistress, you are a very fine baker." Zshon said after taking a bite from his cookie.

"Thank you Zshon. Did you, and your father and siblings, get the containers that I left for you this morning?"

"Yes, my Mistress," Zshon replied. "As always, we're very appreciative towards you for what you leave us."

"And, as always, you're welcome." Angel said. After saying this, she noticed that her son wasn't eating his cookies. He was just staring at them, which was very unlike him. "Everything okay, Bile? Anything amiss upstairs or—"

"Some of my music is missing, ma." Bile relayed. "Five of my discs aren't in the rack."

"Did you ask if one of your—"

"Yes. Neither Lhaklar, Hazaar, or Lazeer has them." Bile replied.

"What are you missing?"

"Ozzy's Bark at the Moon and Scream, Aerosmith's Big Ones, Fastway's Trick or Treat, and a disc that has several different bands on it."

"I'll do what I can to find and then return them to you." Angel promised.


	33. Chapter 33

"You sit on that bed and calm down, mister." Angel said after both entering her son's room then pushing her son towards his bed. Hazaar not only did as he was told but he also crossed his arms after doing it; the struggle to keep the two tears from falling was not won. This was just not his day. After waking, he had found himself as having a serious chip of the Temperamental phase sitting on his shoulders—he was like a ticking time bomb and, sadly, he had just let the fuse run out. Momma, along with saying that he could follow her into his father's office, had said for him to let her do the talking... had he done that? Uh, no; after entering the office, then spending a few minutes of poking around, looking at this thing and that thing, he exploded. A verbal altercation, followed by a minor physical one, had happened; he was grounded now... the old man had given him two weeks in the hole.

Now that the flames were down, and he was about to experience an emotional episode—which he almost always experienced after going through a tempered moment—, he knew that he deserved to be punished. All the things he had said, and the two swings and the one push that he had given to his father... why the hell hadn't he stayed out of the room, or made the decision to go up to his room and then turn on some music or watch some tv? Along with knowing that he was about to get a sort of lecture from his mother he knew that his father wasn't about to let him down on what he did—the old man didn't seem all that favoring towards understanding the issue before throwing out the punishment for it.

"Can't pin the blame for what I did on the events that happened yesterday..." he thought while brushing the tears from his face.

He and his brothers, over the last twenty-four hours, had found themselves as lacking some of their stuff; the music discs seemed to be tops on the list of items that were missing while the magazines wre next in line. He had come close to exploding after finding that he was lacking most of his January editions—while having read them already he still wanted to keep them; with their not being on his person, or being able to be found, he was lacking that desire. After seeing that he was lacking some music, and most of his January editions, he had gone downstairs to confront either his father or that rank Master Vile on the theft—momma had "bumped" into him before he had even had a chance to start down the hallway that was on the house's second level; after taking him to the side, then talking to him about what was wrong, then giving him her promise on her finding all that was missing, she had sent him back upstairs. The trip to his father's office had only been done because of the items that were missing—momma had been able to mention the items to the man, and he had been able to see that the man was rather stressed out over something, before the fuse that was his temper went out.

Who would want to take a bunch of their music and magazines; he saw no reason behind the theft and, honestly, he wanted his stuff back and pronto. Whoever it was had made-off with maybe around sixty or so dollars worth of music—the magazines were really worthless while the rest of what was missing would make the monetary tally go up more. He hoped that the one who went into his room, then took what he jolly well wished, dreamed well and he really hoped that, one day, he'd bump into him—he could well teach him a lesson on who to not mess with and on what items of what person he should stay clear of.

All his phase had caused was trouble; he couldn't undo it, or say that he was sorry and then be let off the hook. He was stuck with the consequences and, sadly, his brothers might be in jeopardy of being punished now too—if they walked in on the old man right now, or a few minutes from now, and he had yet to cool down, he might yell at them and then ground them for simply coming in for either a visit or to let him know that certain stuff of theirs was missing.

Hazaar hung his head; he felt miserable. Even more miserable than before. The feeling of his being helpless was also present too.

"Hazaar, I told you to not say anything while we were in his office." Angel started to say. "I said for you to let me handle it and you deliberately disobeyed me—you went and ran your mouth, and started a fight; that isn't how you handle things. You approach them in a mature way."

"I'm sorry, momma." Hazaar muttered.

"You let your temper take a-hold of you again—how many times have I told you to go off to some other place when you feel like you're about to explode? Instead of standing around, or doing what you did, you could of gone to your room, or to the gym, or even to the pool—you could of used something in each of them three rooms to take your frustrations out on. Instead of doing as you should, you exploded and then targeted your father, who's very busy and who's teetering on the brink of being very stressed out."

"I d-didn't m-mean to." Hazaar bawled.

Angel looked at her son, who was now in the full throws of an emotional episode; for the thinnest fraction of a second, she considered going to him. She wasn't one who liked seeing her children be this upset, and she wasn't one to let them be in the episodes that Hazaar was now disclosing. At the very last second, she tore herself around then left the room—Hazaar needed some time to himself; to think about what he did and to think about how he was going to make up for it and to think about how he wasn't going to do what he did again.

The last twenty-four hours hadn't been easy for her children; Eshal was scared of going anywhere in the house and that really went double for her sons too and the reason behind this was because almost everyone seemed to be at another's throat. If it wasn't her and her father then it was her father and his father; her father and his grandfather had had a go at it about an hour after the storm started and, about two hours after that was put to a close, her father targeted Trobrencus—and for absolutely no reason too. Her father and Bile, and her father and Tazir, had had a go as well. Shaam, and some unknown guy who had placed a call to his cellular but who hadn't given the man his name, had had a go as well and so had Trobrencus and Olok.

It was one of three things that were happening to create all this fighting—while the house was big, and could accommodate the ones that were in it, there might be too many people in it; the people that were in the house had different views, opinions, and personalities and were trying to rub themselves off on others; or the house's inhabitants just plain liked to fight and were having fun in causing her and her family grief. So far, the children were staying calm and clear of the fighting and so were the women—for how long on both parties she didn't know; with everything being the way it was, she wouldn't be surprised if they joined in on the fighting. Tazir had made the decision to mail out the other invites yesterday, so the upcoming new arrivals were probably going to be adding more pressure to what was currently going on in the house—she had made it known very fast last night about her not looking forward to anyone else coming over, which had caused a fight to happen between her and Duru.

The matter of her sons finding some of their stuff missing wasn't helping things either; people were either not taking the probable thefts seriously or they were taking them seriously but were adding in plenty of insults while doing so. Telling Tazir about the thefts hadn't been on her agenda for the day but, after learning that two very serious items were missing, she had made the decision to do so—she felt bad for adding more stress to the man's shoulders but, when it came to missing cash and knives, one didn't play around or count the clouds.

"Everything alright, Mistress?" Kohl asked. Instead of her shadower of the day being Homsi, Eldass, Zshon, Kalach, or Losal, it was Kohl—the man had just been added to her Most Trusted Circle. The order for one in her circle to keep at her side was still on-going. She really had to give herself a royal kick in the ass for not adding Mr. Zolwin to her Circle; along with knowing the man relatively well, they were good friends and they did trust and revere one another well. At the time that she and Hazaar entered her husband's office, Kohl was at her side. He had probably heard all of what happened in the room—he had said nothing on what he had heard and he had said nothing on his opinion on what happened or on how Hazaar acted.

"He'll be alright. He just needs some time to get himself together." Angel replied.

"Master Tazir has been right busy, Mistress. There's been some trouble going on in the Bula Galaxy for the last week to week and a half—a lot of riots have taken place there, and he had to fire some of his appointed officials too." Kohl relayed after two minutes of silence fell between them.

"I heard that he pulled the rug under most, if not all, of his appointed officials on Axalwen." Angel said.

"Yes, that is true. At current, half of his officials on Ssaavoo have been fired. He's doing his best to fill in the empty slots that are available and he's also trying to keep them two planets under his control. If the issues don't clear up by tomorrow morning, I believe he'll be going to one or the other planet to personally tend to them."

"They're still happening—the rioting?"

"Mhmm. Master Tazir thinks that it's one of them underground operations where—"

"—revolters do their work in private, and where they keep their plans secret until the day that they're initiated." Angel finished. "With the Bula Galaxy being under his control for over two thousand years, I'd of thought that he'd of gotten all the issues worked out."

Even though Kohl said nothing in return, Angel knew what he was thinking—with her, and her sons, being gone for sixteen hundred years, Tazir hadn't been able to concentrate on the duties that a conqueror faced on a day-in to day-out basis. The man had just concerned himself with finding them, which had opened a better than fine window for the ones who were on his conquered realms to revolt and cause trouble.

Last night, before going to bed, she had watched a news segment on what was going on on Axalwen. Around a thousand people had been noted as "taking a stand" in the business district of one of the planet's capital cities before moving on to where the capital buildings were; all of Tazir's flags had been torn down and then burned, a statue had been destroyed, and all sorts of graffiti had been drawn on the buildings before the people went on to looting the area's small businesses. The Bula Galaxy had thirty planets in it—so far, the rioting and unrest was only happening on two of them. Tazir had taken the galaxy in a week's time, which had set a record for a conquest of that caliber and which had solidified his title of Conquering Comet, which he had gained after conquering the rest of the Andromeda Galaxy, which he had been nearly to around halfway done in conquering at the time that her decision in taking his daughter in a sort of twisted revenge plot occurred.

Tazir was more than a little pissed about the happenings on Axalwen and Ssaavoo; along with the rioters being hard at work in trying to create trouble he had also had to face the truth of his appointed officials doing nothing to stop them. The people that he had appointed as the mayors, governors, and so on had just sat back while the rioting and looting happened.

"The riots will be put to a close soon." Kohl assured her. "Master Tazir's seen and taken care of riots before—he has experience in how how to handle them."

"You don't think that the ones behind the riots have anything to do with the things that my sons are missing, do you?" Angel asked.

"Doubt it, Mistress. At current, your husband has a spell on this place that prevents anyone from teleporting or using magic to get in or out." Kohl answered. He then asked, "Pardon me for asking but what are your sons missing?"

Seeing as she did need to make a list on what was missing, she led Kohl to the library then had him stand by while she sat then started writing it out. While true, it was mostly magazines and music that was missing, there were two items that were very important that were missing too. Lhaklar's wallet, which had $2,188 in it, and Lazeer's pocketknife were the only two items that she was really concerned about—while she wanted all of her sons' missing stuff to be returned to their owners it was really these two items that she really wanted to know the whereabouts of. According to Lhaklar, he had put the wallet under some of his clothes that were in one of his dresser drawers, and, according to Lazeer, his knife had been under his mattress at the time of his slipping under the covers—Lhaklar's dresser was fine, and looked relatively untouched by anyone other than himself, and Lazeer said that he had felt no one as lifting his mattress up last night to retrieve the knife that was under it; there was no explanation on what happened to the two items and, so far, no one was coming forward to either say that they had been in the two's rooms at the time of the theft or had given the items back.

All it took was two minutes for the list to be made; once the items were on it, she gave it to Kohl then waited for him to both read and then given it back.

Bile's missing things:

1\. Ozzy Osbourne's Bark at the Moon; music  
2\. Ozzy Osbourne's Scream; music  
3\. Aerosmith's Big Ones; music  
4\. Fastway's Trick or Treat; music  
5\. A disc of music that has several different bands on it  
6\. The January edition of WhiteTail; magazine  
7\. The January edition of Water Fowl; magazine  
8\. The January edition of Knives Illustrated; magazine

Lhaklar's missing thing:

1\. Little Walter's Best of Little Walter; music  
2\. Ray Charles's Swingin' Along; music  
3\. Bo Diddley's Super Blues; music  
4\. BB King's My Kind of Blues; music  
5\. A disc of music that has 10 songs by Charles Brown on it  
6\. The January edition of Field and Stream; magazine  
7\. The January edition of Fly Fishin' and Bassin'; magazine  
8\. A wallet that had $2,188 in it

Hazaar's missing things:

1\. 50 Cent's The Massacre; music  
2\. Def Jef's Soul Food; music  
3\. DMX's ...And Then There Was X; music  
4\. Fort Minor's The Rising Tide; music  
5\. Lil Scrappy's Tha Gru$tle; music  
6\. The January edition of Outdoor Living; magazine  
7\. The January edition of Playboy; magazine  
8\. The January edition of BowHunter; Magazine  
9\. The January edition of Deer and Deer Hunting; magazine

Lazeer's missing things:

1\. Bob Marley's Burnin; music  
2\. UB40's Food For Thought; music  
3\. SOJA's Creeping In; music  
4\. Like A Storm's Chaos Theory: Part 1; music  
5\. Sick Puppies's Tri-Polar; music  
6\. The January edition of Turkey Hunting; magazine  
7\. The January edition of Predator Hunting; magazine  
8\. His pocketknife

The two hours that followed the list's creation were hectic; his employer, after learning of the list's existence, then asking to see it, was fast in giving out a series of orders. He and Homsi were told to take Mistress Angel to a room and then to keep her there until word came to them that it was okay for her to leave it; the Young Masters, and Miss. Eshal, joined them a few minutes later—the order was the same with them. The members of his employer's family were told to go to their given rooms while the staff were told to go to the dining room. In all, it took an hour and a half before everyone heard the news on what was going on.

The rooms that Young Master Lhaklar and Lazeer inhabited had been searched; after the missing knife and wallet weren't found in them, or in any of the other rooms in the house, Master Tazir called in several of his bigger, taller, and more burly-bodied Goblins. Between he and four others, everyone was questioned on whether they had the missing items or if they knew where the missing knife and wallet were—it took just thirty minutes for everyone to be questioned. When everyone was questioned, and it was assured that the knife and wallet weren't on anyone, and that no one was responsible for their being missing, the word was given for normal living to be resumed.

Homsi, he thought, would stay by their Mistress's side for the remainder of the workday; after word was given for everyone to go by their own again, he found his co-worker as going off on his own. He was left as the only one to keep their employer's wife company. Homsi, who looked rather perturbed over the events that occurred after the list was seen by their employer's eyes, wasn't seen for a while by either he or his Mistress. His Mistress, after being allowed to roam the house again, was fast in tracking her husband down; after telling him to stand by the door of the room that he was in, she went in then spoke with him. In all, it took her five minutes before leaving the room and then going back down the hallway.

"Everything alright?" he asked after they went down to the house's first level then started down the hallway that branched to the right of the one that ran into the foyer. After descending one of the foyer's two stairwells, he had noticed that one of his more burly-bodied co-workers was stationed by the front door—this gave him both a chill and a cause to be concerned.

"Yeah. Yeah, everything's fine. Tazir turned Lhaklar and Lazeer's rooms upside down—he was really intent on finding that knife and wallet." his Mistress replied.

"Find anything?"

"No. Even after dusting for fingerprints on Lhaklar's dresser and Lazeer's mattress he didn't find anything—just Lhaklar and Lazeer's prints were found as being on the two items."

"Excuse me for asking but could your sons of misplaced the items that they're missing? Left them outside, or put them down somewhere then forgot about them." he asked.

"They'd of been found if the latter happened, and my sons claimed that they knew where they were before they were noted as being missing."

"Could they be trying to get attention by making up a lie?"

"My sons know better, and they wouldn't lie about something like this." Angel said. "They're very serious about their missing items—even Tazir noticed how serious they were when he took them to the side for questioning."

And so was he. The missing knife concerned him more than the other items that were on the list; while the missing wallet was also concerning, and also needed to be found, it was the pocketknife that was the more pressing thing that needed to be found. According to his Mistress, the wallet had nothing but a photo I.D. and money in it—the one who had the wallet would probably use the cash, and would have a mind to try to pass off as being Young Master Lhaklar by using his I.D., but no real harm would come from that item's loss. The knife could be used on someone. If it was possessed by someone who was either not loyal or who was playing the "ghost" routine in the house it could be used on either his employer or on one in his family.

After seeing that there was a burly Goblin stationed by the back door, then by the doors that went to each of the level's other rooms, he figured that his employer had set in a security measure for the house—everyone was to be watched. If something amiss, or odd, was noted as happening, the burlier Goblins would go to work in detaining that person and then finding what it was that was so off about their behavior. Even though this measure was a good one, he still got the chills from it.

"Not since taking up the job for Mr. Surfeit have I seen such a measure be put into effect." he thought while following his employer's wife around.

While she didn't know where she was going, she did know that her feet were taking her somewhere and, honestly, she was curious about where that somewhere was. Kohl followed her; he made no motion or protest when she went up one of the house's many stairwells, or made her way to the house's third, fourth, and fifth levels. All while going down the fourth and fifth levels of the house, she fought the urge in wanting to touch the amulet that she was still wearing. After going up the stairwell that'd take her to the house's sixth level, her struggle was lost.

It was still the same—the drawstring was still brown, and the little jar still has its potion in it, but there was something different to it that made the act of toting it around even more difficult. Trobrencus, after calming down from his fight with her father, had asked for her to see him in Tazir's office; while curious, and a little bit nervous, about what he wanted, she had done as he had requested. Along with getting a little surprise, she had received a small chiding after meeting him. It seemed that Tazir had been approached by the man yesterday, at around lunch-time; along with usual discussion, Trobrencus had both disclosed his concern for her and her sons and had asked him about the amulet. After learning about her claim on her use of Elimination Demoniaque in a conversation with Bushon being normal talk, he had made the decision to see her and then try to give her some help with her little problem.

After entering the room, then walking up to him, she had found herself as being asked to take the amulet from around her neck and then give it to him—though feeling relieved to have it from herself she had also been reluctant to give it to him. After giving it to the man, she had seen him take a small, black and purple book, that had gold lettering on it, from his pocket; the book was opened, then the amulet was placed before two of its pages, then a spell that she had never heard before was said before a type of prayer was done over it.

After the book was seen, it hadn't been very hard for her to figure out what was about to happen between he and the amulet. IackVile Uovo Surfeit, Trobrencus's father, had intended for his son to be a clergyman—the interest in his becoming a conqueror hadn't been there for some reason; she had never asked him why or had even given it a good thought on why. Even though Iack had intended for his son to be in the clergy he had still sent him to the schools that a conqueror was known to go to—Iack, after picking out and then sending him to his first five educations, had enrolled him in the Power of Clergy Academy and then the University of Church, and for the same tenure of five hundred years. After Iack died, Trobrencus went on to become a conqueror; a few hundred years after marrying Bahne, then siring the first four of their ten children, he became the sole remaining member of his father's immediate family—after his two brothers, Rosol and Raal, died, it had been up to him and Shaam, and, later on, Duru, to keep the family going, which they had done rather well.

"Need to see your sons next," he had said after closing his book and then sliding the amulet back around her neck. "Did I not get on you about your habit in keeping things to yourself? I recall on the day that you came by my place that I did so—things such as demonic possession, or oppression, or probable possession or oppression, aren't meant to be kept to one's self; don't ever retain things like what I just found you as hiding again, Angel."

Though thankful for his assistance, and appreciative towards his understanding her on why she had kept what she had to herself, she hadn't felt safe after the spell, and then prayer, was done over the amulet. The feelings that seemed to be flowing from it had grown stronger, and she had heard some sort of gasp followed by an incoherent gargling sound right after it was returned to her neck. Her sons, after having the same spell and prayer done to their amulets, and then having their amulet returned to their necks, had given the room a curious, yet spook-filled, look—she didn't know why but she had a feeling that they had heard the gasp, and gargle sound, too.

"Mistress?" Angel stopped after hearing the distant-sounding voice that belonged to Kohl. After taking in her surroundings, she saw that she was both on the house's seventh level and standing before the door that went to the room that her father inhabited.

"I'm sorry, Kohl, but I'd like to speak with my father." Angel said. While she didn't think he was involved with the thefts she figured that, since she was here, she might as well talk to him about them and, possibly, talk some sense into him on mellowing down. "Can you wait outside? I'd like to speak with him alone."

"Mistress, I do wish to come with you—I fear the things that'll happen when you're with him."

"I'll be fine. If anything starts up, I know a good knee to use." Angel gave a false smile to Kohl before going on to knocking on the door. Kohl was fast in standing by the door after giving her a nod and then a long look.

The door that she knocked on had a dark silver paint-job on it that almost looked metallic; its knob was shaped like a dragon's head, which she did think was cool.

After knocking, she waited; while waiting, she thought about how loud her father had been that morning—after seeing her as coming into the house's dining room, he had just not had anything good to say on what she was wearing. Her pants were black, and were a little loose in the lower leg areas, and her shirt was one of them half-halter types—while it was purple, it was covered in a glittery material that caught the shine from the house's lights well. Her shoes had a low heel on them; they matched her outfit well. All of what she was wearing had been found in a box, which had been on the end of her and her husband's bed that early morning— _with great love and affections, and to the most beautiful woman in the Universe, your ever-doting husband, Taz_ was what had been on the little tag that was on the box's top. While Tazir had given her a few gazes, and had whistled once or twice after seeing her, her father had taken one look at what she was wearing before going on to insult both it and her.

The man had never been very favoring towards her choices in clothes or jewelry; she had just ignored him after hearing him speak on what she was wearing.

Per request of his, her father's staff were fast in answering the door to his residence after the first knock was heard; if he decided to answer the door himself, he'd also be fast in doing so—when he was in a specific room in his palace home, or in the room that was given to him when he decided to swing by someone's place for a spell, this didn't change. She wasn't but so surprised that the man answered the door to his given room five seconds after her initial knock was given. The man, after seeing who it was that had called him, was fast in bringing her into the room; he closed, and then locked, the door after she was in the room.

"Should I be horrified or excited after receiving such a guest as this in my chamber of sleep?" the man asked after doing a complete circle around her.

"That's totally up to you." Angel replied. She let the man do his sick fetish in checking her out before speaking with him further. "Been using any magic lately, or making any trips to the other chambers that are being used in the house?"

"No."

"Been taking anything that doesn't belong to you?"

"I have not and how dare you come here to accuse me of being a thief!" Master Vile snapped after seeing the true cause of her visit. "What would I do with a bunch of music, that's nothing but noise, and a bunch of filthy, unappealing magazines, and why would I take anything that I have no interest in?"

"How about a wallet that has over two thousand dollars in it, and a pocketknife?" Angel gave the man a good, long look.

"I'm rich, if you haven't noticed. Why would I want to take a wallet that has that much in it when I carry more than twice that on my person, and why would I take a piss-poor excuse for a knife when I have a better one on me?" her father counter-asked. "If it's interrogation that you're interested in doing, do it with someone other than me, and tell them brats of yours to keep better care of their chambers and stuff."

After seeing that the man seemed sincere about the two items that she had just mentioned, she switched the conversation to something else.

"Take it that you think it's a game to create so many fights with people? The purpose for everyone to be here is to get to see and interact with my sons, and to—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah... I've heard that number several times since my arrival. Certain people need to realize that fighting is natural—the brats, and you, will calm down after being around it for a bit."

"You don't seem very concerned with the fact that all the fighting that's been going on in the house has been causing me, my sons, and Eshal stress?"

"Again, you'll get use to it."

"Don't suppose that you've given it a thought about whether or not the constant fighting is also causing your grandson to be stressed too?"

The act of her mentioning Thrax, and of his possibly being stressed out by all the fighting that was going on in the house, was very innocent. The fact that Rita and Lord Zedd had settled down to do the parenting thing was still a surprise to her—at the time of her and her son's disappearance, the two had been childless. While Lord Zedd had wanted kids, and had spoken highly of the children that he wanted to create with his wife, Rita had tip-toed around the subject or had avoided the subject all together. From what she had seen, Thrax was a very obedient and intelligent child; he seemed to be rather close with his grandfather, who also seemed to be rather close with him.

After her father, and his entourage, came over for their stay, she had been fast in thinking that Thrax had taken more after his father than his mother. His body looked much like Lord Zedd's while some of his face had been inherited from his mother. Due to Master Vile being half-skeletal in appearance, and due to Rita having inherited that gene, Thrax had a skeletal jaw and spine structure. Except for knowing that the Surfeit line had, at one time, boasted a lot of folk who had horns on their heads, she wasn't fully able to explain the reason to why he had horns on his head—her father didn't have any and neither did Rita or Lord Zedd.

The child was closing in on his nine hundred and secondth birthday; he seemed rather reluctant to hang around anyone that was in the mansion and he also seemed rather reluctant to be around her and her sons—Rita was happy about this and, really, so was her father.

"My dear daughter, why don't you stick around for a while? Check around my sleeping quarters if you don't believe my word on my having nothing that doesn't belong to me." Master Vile offered. "It's open to you and your wondering eyes and prying fingers."

The offer given to her was a surprise; instead of being told to leave, and to not come back, she was being given the green light to search the room for the items that her sons were missing.

Her father, whenever he was allowed to come over for a lengthy stay, was commonly given a room that matched with his peculiar interests—the man had a big interest in black, but was also one for liking dark gold, dark silver, and dark red too. The room that he was in matched well with this interest of his—along with being medium-sized, it was mostly black.

The bed was big enough for one person, and had a black and purple comforter, and sheets, on it; the bed's pillows were in matching cases that had a black ruff around their outer edges. The black carpet was shag-like in appearance, and the walls and ceiling were a dark gray color. The lounge-like chair, that was by the room's one window, had a dark gold frame to it; the chair's cushion and back were the same color.

The dresser was a dark yellow to near-gold color while the French couch, that was beside it, was either a dark gray or silver color. With her knowing her father as well as she did, she knew that he hadn't used the room's tv, which was on the wall above the dresser, any during his stay—when the man went to bed, or spent any time in either the room that was in his palace or in the house that he was staying in, he just disrobed then went to sleep. The dark silver bedside table, that was beside the bed, had a black lamp on it; if she had to make any guesses, the Gothic-style, bakelite clock, that was before the lamp, was her father's—the room hadn't had that in it before her father came along to inhabit it.

"He's always been a bit of an odd-ball." she remembered her grandfather telling her once.

Stashed somewhere in the house were several photographs that she had received from an old friend of hers; some of them were of her father from when he had been a student at Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic while others were of him from when he had gone to his other educations. The boy in the Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic pictures didn't look or even resemble the man before her—along with being five foot, nine inches, he had been right thin and had been wearing normal attire, meaning a pair of black pants and a normal, white formal shirt. The photograph of his being a one thousand, two hundred, and twenty-nine year old showed the degree of change that had happened during his time in being away from his parents—the pants were still the same but he had exchanged the white formal shirts for near floor-length black robes; he had been two inches taller and had also been battling a bout of pimplitis at the time of that photograph's taking. The fifth photograph that she had was of him from when he was a student at Dark Sorcery and Beyond—though not looking anything like he did now, he had shown the signs of his being both a big and powerful man then.

After giving the room a simple glancing, she turned to leave; she had only just reached the door, and had just placed her hand on its knob, when she felt a presence loom over her. The presence was no more felt before a hand was dropped to her shoulder.

"You remember the blood that you carry, and who you got it from. Keep your hands to yourself—leave that queer-acting Trobrencus alone." her father said in her ear coldly. "Regardless of my being forced to share you with my uncle, you are still mine. You are still my wife, and you are to always be my wife—and Bile is to always be my son, you remember that now. Tazir might of adopted him but he'll always be my son."

"Let go of me!" Angel growled. Instead of doing as she requested, the man drew himself closer to her then reached his hand up. Along with his fondling her back, she felt him as he wrapped his hand around her neck and then ran his hand around to her front-side; when the hand touched the amulet, that was around her neck, it stopped then wrapped around it. For a fleeting second, she thought that it'd rip the thing from her neck—in a way, she hoped that it would. When the hand released the amulet, then went up into her hair, she fought to suppress the sigh that she wanted to emit. Along with being able to feel his every muscle, and his heart beating, she could feel that he had a better than decent erection going on in his pants.

"Your activities, when you were on Earth, what were they?" the man asked while running his hand through her hair.

At first, she didn't understand the question. After disclosing an interest in wanting him to repeat his question, she found herself as being yanked around; her father, after giving her one of the wickedest smiles that she had ever seen, did a twirl then threw her towards the room's bed. Her head, while striking the mattress, didn't hit the board that was against the bed's foot—still, though, she yelled after her funny-bone struck the leg of the board that her head missed.

Her father advanced on her slowly before, in the blink of an eye, lunging at her; while emitting a scream, then closing her eyes, she imagined him as grabbing her and then tearing everything that she was wearing from her. A spell had been done on the room, she thought; with nothing being able to be heard from outside of the room, her father could have at her as long as he wanted to and no one would know of it until she finally escaped him. Instead of doing as she thought he'd do, he stopped before her, then dropped to her eye-level, then asked the same question again. After hearing the question again, then putting two-and-two together on why he was asking it, she answered it.

"Raising four boys has kept me pretty busy—I've had no time to think or worry about sex." the man stared at her before dropping his gaze to the item that was around her neck.

"This... thing is nothing more than an eye-sore on you." he touched the bottled potion with his fingernail before dropping his hand. "I don't believe any of what you've said about this demonic entity that's "tormenting" you and them brats of yours. If you've experienced it, we would have too. Since my arrival, I've felt nor seen or heard anything that'd make my spine tingle—no mysterious shadows, or three-mark scratches appearing on the arms or legs, or eerie voices."

"I'm not sure who it is, or if it's demonic or not." she said. "All I know is that me and my sons have been experiencing him for weeks now, and that we're curious, nervous, and scared of him."

"None of you have been sleeping well—your tired eyes, and minds, are making images pop up that aren't real, and your ears are hearing things that don't exist. Your lack of sleep, your stress and worry, and the fact that Bile and them other boys of yours are in a place that you're not familiar with is making all of you think that you're being besieged by some bad force when you're not." Master Vile stood up after saying this; he looked almost like a giant to her now.

She had considered that... The lack of sleep, the stress and worry, and the house being somewhat new to her and her children had all been considered but... but the fact that they were sleeping, and having moments were they weren't stressed out or worrying about something, and about Zanra acting scared of Lazeer's closet! All of that couldn't be coincidence, or couldn't cancel-out what was being experienced by her, Bile, Lhaklar, and Lazeer—so far as she knew, Hazaar and Eshal were the only ones that hadn't experienced the dark-skinned being that was tormenting her and some of her sons.

While true, she and her sons hadn't been physically harmed by the dark-skinned being, there were some instances that she couldn't explain or put a cause to. Lazeer hearing someone calling out to him from his closet, and then seeing someone as coming out from his closet, and Zanra being afraid of going near that closet; Lhaklar's mirror exploding in the way it had after she whipped the towel from it; the dark entity being seen as manifesting close to where Trobrencus's place was, and then striking at her car after she was away from Trobrencus's front gate; Bile's premonition-like dreams being almost identical to what happened in Green River, Wyoming on December 13... there was just no way to explain why or how them things happened.

Course, if she said any of this to her old man, she knew that he'd say otherwise or do something that would have a consequence to it; she spoke none of what she was thinking. Instead, she readied herself to leave the room.

Her legs were gathered, and were propelling her up from the floor, when she felt the drawstring around her neck pull up and then tighten. She thought nothing negative on this; with her leaning against the bed, the bedding had caught against the drawstring and then caused it to pull up and tighten at the same time.

This thought of hers changed in a fraction of a second; after pushing herself from the bed, she felt the drawstring tighten still more then she felt some force yank her back. She fell to the floor quickly, then gained to her feet just as quickly, then made the move to move away from the bed—at the time of her making this move, the drawstring tightened again. Unlike the last time, where she was yanked back to the floor, she found herself as being yanked to the bed.

"Enough! That's not funny, Angel, nor is it getting the attention that you want from me." Master Vile snapped.

"Connection; rebuild the break in connection; remove the item that breaks the bridge of our conversation and connection." the voice, that belonged to the black-skinned guy, was heard; while she was able to hear it, she didn't know if her father was hearing it.

"You hear me? Quit the act—it's not gaining what you want!" Master Vile barked again.

That was the last that she heard of her father on that day; the drawstring was currently so tight around her neck that her flesh was poking out from around it. She didn't so much as lose consciousness as much as she just plain felt herself as being yanked from her body and then dragged along the immense vacuum that was space. She felt her spiritual essence leave her body, then fly from the mansion, and then from Moas; the trip through space was rather interesting... or, except for when she saw and then felt herself as being pulled towards Earth, it was.

A blinding white light was seen; she had no choice but to snap her eyes shut after seeing it as rushing towards her. When her eyes opened, she found that she was no longer on this strange ride through space—she was now on the planet, and was in an area that she wasn't aware of.

All around her were Norway spruce, Douglas fir, Scots pine, and European silver fir trees; it was quite dark where she was, so she guessed that it was either night or she was in a plane between death and living that was always dark. There weren't all that many bushes in the area, but she was able to hear bird calls and the occasional sound of an animal walking about. She had just taken in the animal sounds when she saw that she was in a camp of some sort—the tent was nothing more than a white sheet, that was stretched across an overhanging branch and weighted down by rocks; the fire was roaring, yes, but its pit looked rather poorly constructed; there was a jean bag a few feet from the pit that had a stack of magazines and music discs beside it. One look at the magazines and music discs sent her mind in a flurry—they were her sons', that was without a doubt, but why were they here?

"Break the strand; severe the item that breaks my line of contact and connection with my mutter." she heard. After hearing this, she looked at the camp again. She had no more taken everything in before gasping—sitting before her, on the other side of the fire, was the black-skinned man. He was sitting just as straight as could be; his hands were on the knees of his legs, which were crossed underneath him; and his eyes were shut.

"Hey... Hey, you!" she heard herself say. The one before her opened his eyes; while she didn't know if he was able to see her or not she knew that he was looking right at her.

"Mum?" the black-skinned man said.

The one before her undid his long, black legs; when he stood up, he looked very strong and very well balanced. The man, or whoever he was, looked around as if he was looking for something... or someone—while there were other instances where she had felt sorry for him it was really this one where her heart cried out to him. To her, the one before her didn't seem fully grown—after watching his movements, she got the feeling that he was a teenager. His high-level nervousness, and the way his camp was situated, and the fact that he seemed to be very keen on following her and her family was in no way, shape, or form adult.

When the man stood up, then started moving around, she noticed that something fell from his lap. Seeing as her legs weren't working on her, she squinted her eyes to see what it was—it was only when the flames blew to the side that she saw that it was a wallet, and not just any wallet at that. Lhaklar owned a wallet that was made of a brown leather material, that had dark red stitching on it... the wallet on the ground looked very eerily similar to it—it even looked very "stuffed" with cash too! After trying to make her legs move, so she could get up and then go to retrieve the item that belonged to her son, she grew frustrated then sighed.

"You're the one behind my son's wallet being missing?" she heard herself say.

"Wha-k-t was that?" the one before her asked. He turned twice, then went around his camp, before stopping before the fire. "Hello? Mum? Mutter? Is tha-k-t you trying to contac-k-t me? I've been trying to get in contact for a long-k time now... my connec-k-tion was broken by some force and I'm trying to ge-k-t it back. Please, mum, tell me that you're here!"

"The amulet..." the word was no more said before she wanted to choke it back.

"Amu-what?"

"Why did you taken my son's wallet?" Angel asked.

"Tha-k-t damn force must still present!" the one, who she was now certain wasn't a man but a child, said in frustration. "I'm trying-k to get it removed, mum. Le-k-t me try something real quick, okay?"

She knew the various spellings of the word mother and mom well; while mom, mommy, and mother were the more used terms there was also ma and mama—Bile was a frequent user of the former and an infrequent user of the latter while Lazeer sometimes used ma and mama in reference to her—and momma—Hazaar was a frequent user of this one—and mum and mutter. The latter two were more frequently used by folk who lived on Earth's eastern hemisphere. Being that the mum and mutter terms had been used, she figured that the youth before her was from that part of the planet.

She was about to ask the kid the question on what his name was when he came towards the fire then sat down; he reached into the pair of light brown cargo pants that he was wearing, which were ripped rather badly from the knee on down, after he sat down then, right before her eyes, he withdrew a knife that looked eerily similar to the one that Lazeer was missing.

The knife was black on one of its sides; when the one who was holding it turned it to the side, she saw that its other side was a metal-silver color. When the kid opened it, she saw that it had two blades in it—it looked very much like a bat in flight now that it was open. After the knife's two blades were out, the kid sat perfectly still; he did nothing more than look at her for the longest of time before saying—

"Break the band; break the strand; break the force that forbids me from communicating and seeing my mutter." he was quiet for a second before going on. "Make communication and connection become available; fix the bridge; repair the breech between my mutter and me."

She was yanked from the area; she left the planet then flew through space again—the stars were pretty against all the black, and so were the many planets that she also saw. She didn't know how long it took for her to see Moas zooming towards her, or to see herself as falling into the mansion. When her trip was done, she felt herself gasp—the burning sensation of having something, or someone, hit her face was very present, as was the one of a liquid splashing against her.

Her physical body didn't hesitate to gasp, or wheeze, after whatever was experienced was over; she coughed, and then sputtered, before starting to cry and then roll over to her side. Her vision was poor, her breathing was raspy, her reflexes were terrible, and she was having a time in being able to hear what was going on around her.

"Mistress? Mistress, speak to me? You okay? Mistress Angel!" Kohl yelled while trying to keep the woman on the bed from rolling to the floor.

"She breathing? Kohl, is she breathing?" Homsi asked while shoving through the line of Goblins that were in the room that his employer's wife was in.

"Yes. Yes, yes—she is, thank the Gods she is!" Kohl said after checking, and then finding, a pulse. After seeing that she was breathing, he yelled, "Someone get me a wet rag—the bottle, that was around her neck, exploded right after its band snapped!"

After hearing the scream, followed by Master Vile telling her to both stop it and that whatever she was doing wasn't getting the attention that she wanted from him, he had turned and then kicked the door to the room open. After seeing that the woman was being choked by her amulet's drawstring, and that the man who was her sire not doing anything but standing around, he had rushed forward to relieve her of the issue that was giving her trouble.

Her face was deathly pale, her lips were blue, her breathing was barely able to the detected, and she was clutching at her throat when he came in to see what was going on in the room; his P-38 had been taken from its stationed pocket and then slid underneath the drawstring right after he saw all of this. His actions hadn't been the cause of the string breaking—the drawstring had acted like it was cut, yes, but he hadn't been the one to cut it, which he did think was rather strange. The bottled potion exploding like it had had also been strange to him.

His yelling—at Master Vile, for his not doing anything but standing around while his daughter choked to death, and for his employer's wife to say or do something—had attracted the attention of everyone who was on the level. Ten of his co-workers had run into the room after he started yelling; a big traffic jam was currently going on in the hallway that the room was on thanks to everyone from the lower levels rushing up to see what was going on. One of his co-workers had yelled for someone to place a call to both Homsi and their employer—one of them calls must of been done because Homsi was here; he wished that his employer was in the room and he also wished that someone would get the cretin who was his Mistress's father out of the room.

Master Vile was currently up against the wall—someone had shoved him against it after coming into the room. Either the man was making the decision to stay where he was or someone was keeping him there; while he looked confused, he wasn't speaking on what he had witnessed. Except for Master Vile, the room, and its inhabitants, was a frantic mess.

"She alert?" Homsi asked. He tore his kerchief out from its pocket then ran it to the room's appointed bathroom; when he returned, it was soaping wet. After giving it to his co-worker, he checked his employer's wife—though awake, and breathing, she didn't seem to be fully there, which concerned him.

"She's alive," Kohl answered. He was fast in wiping the now-destroyed bottle's contents from Angel's chest, face, and neck. "Where's Master Tazir?"

"Was he called? Does he know what happened?"

"I don't know."

"He should of been the first to g—"

"Out of the way! Get... go... clear a path will you!" TazirVile rushed by the Goblins that were in the room. "Kohl! Homsi! What's the meaning of the message that I was sent? Angel was strangled? By what and wh—"

"I came in here to find her being choked to death by the band that went to her amulet." Kohl said before tearing his body around. He jabbed a finger in Master Vile's direction after turning around. "He saw it happen and he did nothing to prevent or stop it from happening! He was just standing a few feet from her when I came in."

"I want everyone out of the chamber—clear the hallways!" TazirVile yelled while going to retrieve his wife. He wasted little time in scooping her up, or in taking her from the room.


	34. Chapter 34

"Mr. Modulavich, how are you this morning?" Exasivoor Chente, a Goblin who stood five foot, two and a half inches tall, and who had light brown skin, olive colored eyes, and a series of hairy warts on his left cheek and chin, said after Homsi entered their employer's house. Along with it being the twentieth of January, the clocks all throughout the house had just chimed 6:45; everyone was either punching in, and getting ready for the workday, or was already working.

"Very good, Exasivoor." Homsi replied. "You?"

"Good, now you know the routine, Mr. Modulavich." Exasivoor's friendly appearance and demeanor changed right then and there. He went from being what he was to professional in the drop of a hat.

"Remove your coat then hold your arms out for the pat down." Homsi said.

He did as he had been doing for the last six days; his jacket was removed, then handed over for his co-worker to check, then his arms were held to the sides. Exasivoor, after checking the jacket, then slinging it across his arm, did the pat down quickly, but efficiently. While he knew that the pat downs were important, he did have one issue with them—whenever Exasivoor, or another of the more burlier Goblins did the patting, they were very forceful when they ran their hands over or between one's legs.

If not for his employer's wife being choked by her amulet, the pat downs wouldn't be happening; Master Tazir, after learning that his wife had been choked by the band of her amulet, then further learning that it had been cut by someone other than Kohl, had grown concerned that some unknown person, who was both cloaked and meaning to harm members of his family, was in the house. Before everyone came in for work, they were given a pat down. If anyone went down to the staff's quarters for lunch, or went to some other place that wasn't in the house for lunch, they were stopped before entering the house and then given a pat down. No questions were allowed to be asked and no requests for the pat downs to not be done were being allowed; his employer was serious in having this measure done and the ones who he appointed to do them were equally serious in doing them.

Except for the forceful actions of when one went to run their hands over or between his legs, he had no true qualms about the pat downs, or about anything that went along with them; if it had been he in his employer's shoes, and his wife had been choked by some unseen and unknown presence, he would of done the same thing.

"Mr. Modulavich, your box please."

The one who was giving him his first pat down of the day, and who was now rummaging through his lunchbox, was a relatively friendly fellow both before and after the pat downs were done; the original guy, who had been given the task of both guarding the door that gave access to the stairwell that ran down to the staff's quarters, and giving everyone who came up from the staff's quarters a pat down, had called in sick five days ago—even though the guy was better, Exasivoor looked to be a permanent fixture to his position. Mr. Chente was doing his job well, which was probably the reason to why he still had the original guy's post.

The man, though not especially new to the job, was new enough to know that he also had eyes on him; he was just fifty years in on working for their employer—so far, he was proving to be a most excellent employee and fellow to either hang around with or talk to.

Exasivoor wouldn't find a thing of interest on him—on the day that the order was given for the pat downs to be given, he had made the move to leave everything that could raise a red flag at home. His pocketknife, which was always carried on his person, wasn't on him and his lunchbox was free of knives and forks. Whenever lunch-hour came around, he used one of the plastic forks and knives that were in the employee lounge—after using them two items, he broke them into more than ten pieces then tossed them in the trash. Regardless of his being free of things that'd gain Exasivoor's attention, he let the man do his job in patting him down.

"You're good, Mr. Modulavich." Exasivoor said after taking his hands from him, then giving him his lunchbox and jacket back.

"Hear anything after you came up to take your post?" Homsi asked after taking his two items back.

"Master Tazir, and his family, are all awake. They've already eaten breakfast, and are somewhere in the house. Ulision is currently hard at work in making the meal that everyone else will consume, and Master Tazir has plans to spend half of each hour with his family." Exasivoor relayed. "That's about all that I've managed to overhear."

"Do me a favor in sending Ulision a message—tell him to spit in the food that Master Vile's to eat this morning." Homsi said.

"Alright buster! It's time to go down to where the pipes drip and there's no raylight." Exasivoor was playful in trying to grab Homsi. At the last second, he pulled back then regained his former composure. "I'd love to do that, Homsi, but you know I can't. You have a nice day now."

"Same to you."

"Enjoyed our date. See you soon, Lover."

The man who had just concluded his session in running his hands over him was known for being both single and gay—due to his spending time with a number of their same-sex preferring co-workers, this was known to almost all of them; while he and Olok hadn't done anything together, they did know that they were good friends. With him knowing this, he didn't reply to what Exasivoor said; except for to the women, the man said that to everyone that he gave a pat down to—it wasn't meant in a bad way and everyone who heard him say it to them knew it.

With his first pat down of the day being over, and with his belongings being returned to him, he left Exasivoor behind then went to the employee lounge; once he was in the room, he wasted precious time in storing his lunchbox in the fridge. With his lunch safely stowed away, he went to the coffee table then took up the newspaper that was on it. Instead of taking a seat, he read it while standing.

The first article was nothing; something about a sports team that had lost its run for glory, and that's coach was getting the shit thrown at him for how his team did in their least game. The second article was about the Moas Derby, which was now starting to look interesting with its colorful line-up of fast three-year olds. The third article was on the newest fad in women's clothing and cosmetics while the fourth was about the upcoming films that were slated to be shown in theaters in the next few months. After seeing that the paper consisted of nothing of interest, he returned it to the table.

"Mr. Ruchali." Homsi said after finding himself as bumping into one of his security detail co-workers. The man, who was on his way to taking up his post somewhere in the house, stopped then turned to address him.

"Mr. Modulavich, do think that our employer wants to see you." Thrajuz Ruchali, a chubby, green-skinned Goblin who was wearing a plain green tuxedo and shoes, said. The man, who's wart-encrusted face had a pair of piercingly bright, amber-colored eyes in it, and who stood five foot, one, made as to move on after acknowledging him.

"Where is he?" he asked before the man had a chance to move away from him.

"In his office."

After leaving the lounge, then going to the room that he needed to go to, he thought about the happenings that were going on at his place. He hadn't had all that grand a sleep for the last two nights; the twins had grown fussy and, in order for them to calm down, and go to sleep, he and Abara had agreed to let them sleep in the bed that they usually inhabited. All while sleeping on the couch, he had either seen or heard all sorts of things that he'd usually not hear or see when he was in the room that he and his wife slept in.

Beaufi, it did seem, had a habit of getting up after everyone was in bed and was asleep; she raided the fridge, or the cabinets, numerous times before finally making the decision to go to bed and then go to sleep. The first two times, he had been okay with this then, when she continued to get up to raid the kitchen, he had gotten up to tell her to go to her room and then stay there—though looking tempered over being told to stop her nightly habit, she had done as he had told her to. About an hour after Beaufi was sent to her room, Dlahsleon started getting up—along with having a bad case of diarrhea, and nausea, he was also experiencing cold and hot spells and high-grade fevers. He had managed to get in a halfway decent sleep on the seventeenth while, on the two days that followed, he had gotten little to no sleep. According to the man that his wife had taken their son to see yesterday, Dlahsleon had a spot of Gastroenteritis, or Stomach flu—except for being told to keep him hydrated, and in bed, nothing had been given to make him feel and get to being better.

His father had made a habit out of telling him that, when he grew up, and became a father, he'd find himself as hating the trips to see a doctor as much as the kids did. _There's a lot of doctors out there that won't lift a finger, or that will look you over but not do anything to help you out_ , was what the man had said one day when he had been a fresh new-comer to the bachelor scene. He believed the man because, over the years, he had learned to detest each doctor visit and the minds that the doctors seemed to possess. Abara, after getting their son home from his visit to the doctor, had made him something to drink—a potion that was said to help one who was sick to get better sooner—and then told him to sit on the couch and watch some tv.

"Go on, Homsi." the Goblin who was standing before the door to their employer's office said after he stopped before the door to the room that he was headed to. This very burly Goblin, who's name was Qosdir Tuger, had been appointed the job of looking after the ones who wished to enter their employer's office three days ago; he had purple skin, red eyes, and mid-long, brown-red hair. "Master Tazir's on the phone right now—been on it for the last twenty minutes."

"Business?"

"Yeah—Axalwen." Qosdir replied.

Homsi groaned after hearing the reason to why his employer was on the phone; Axalwen and Ssaavoo were giving the man a lot of trouble, and so were two other planets that were also in the Bula Galaxy. The rioters, along with upping the anti in making more trouble, were passing their influence to others, which was causing the man to lose sleep and be extra stress out. Just yesterday, two whole neighborhoods went up in flames, and a national park was destroyed—there were many injured folk, and a handful of deaths, accredited to the two neighborhoods being set on fire while no one was coming forward to say that they had been harmed by the ones who had set their sights on the national park.

After the two neighborhoods were set ablaze, a broadcast was done—the leader of the rioting had said that all who were loyal to TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit were to reap to benefits of their loyalty by being burned to death, which had caused a lot of people to grow fearful of what was going on and of what was to happen next. Most of the people who lived in the two neighborhoods had gotten out while the remaining folk had either been barred by the rioters or had bean beaten and then thrown back to where the fires waged. The rioters were now publicly challenging his employer, who was growing increasingly angry over them and their antics.

As if the televised broadcast by the leader of the rioters wasn't bad enough, the same man had taunted Mr. Surfeit into making an appearance and then putting him in his place the following day via radio—going by the voice alone, which sure sounded similar to the one that was used by the guy who did the televised broadcast, he knew that it was the same guy.

He knew that his employer was doing all that he could to stop the rioting; along with sending someone to track down and then speak to the leaders about their issues, and about what they wanted, he had both called and sent them letters—one of the tertiary leaders had been caught as ringing out a number, which had been forwarded to his employer, who had called it only to have it dropped right after it was answered. The only real choice that the man had left, since talking to the ones who led the rioting was out, was to go to the planets and then take care of matters himself. Homsi was quite sure that his employer would get the matter squared away after doing this—though not experiencing many riots during his tenure in being a conqueror he did know how to handle them and, furthermore, put them out of business.

"And then we have what's going on under the roof of this place..." he thought after grabbing the door's knob then twisting it.

Due to what was going on in the house, and to how two of his sons were acting, Master Tazir had made the decision to postpone his plans in going to Axalwen and Ssaavoo. Young Master Hazaar, after learning that his mother was nearly choked to death by her amulet, had started mouthing off and creating all sorts of trouble for both him, his brothers, and his father—Master Tazir, after learning that his son was pinning the blame on him for what was going on in the house, had slapped the boy and then sent him to his room for the rest of the day. A few hours after that happened, Young Master Lhaklar created a bit of chaos in the dining room—after learning that his brother was grounded for two weeks, he had spoken on it; a challenge had been given on the man's disciplinary skills right after he had spoken on the given punishment.

While he hadn't been in the house to see or hear any of what happened, Ulision Volvio had; it was through him that they knew what happened on the night of January 14. Everyone had just sat at the table, and had just started filling their plates, when the boy started up on Hazar's given punishment, and on how their father slapped him for "voicing his stresses". Master Tazir had really let his son have it; after plopping his hands on the table, then standing from his chair, he had said that Lhaklar had no right in coming in on his decisions, or in giving his opinion on what all discipline he gave out, and that he had no right in challenging him. A big fight had happened next, which had ended in Lhaklar being grounded for the same amount of weeks that Hazaar was in the hole for—after that punishment was given out, Lhaklar was told to get up and then go to his room, which he had done. The room grew to being very quiet after the boy left it; after everyone was done in eating, they were dismissed—Young Master Bile, Hazaar, and Lazeer were found as being upstairs, in their parents' room, ten minutes later. The three had, apparently, told their mother, who had been put on bed-rest by her husband after being seen by a doctor, all of what happened during her time in being in her and her husband's room and she, after Master Tazir came into the room, then saw the boys as being in it, reacted to it.

A big fight had happened between the two; Lhaklar's punishment had been revoked, and Hazaar's had been dropped to being a week instead of two weeks, and Mistress Angel had slept upstairs, on the third level, that night and on the two that followed.

"For his crime in doing nothing while his daughter was being choked, Master Vile was thrown from the house." he thought after entering the room that his employer was in.

This hadn't settled well with some of the house's female guests—Irka and Dara Dara, for three of the five days that Master Vile was home-evicted, had been quite loud on the man not being allowed to be in the house while Cyla and Rita had put forth the claim that he was being criminalized for something that he shouldn't be criminalized for. On the night of the third day that the four women were ranting and raving on Master Vile's home eviction, Master Tazir exploded. Along with threatening the women of their stay in the house, he had also threatened to throw the married one's husbands, and their children, out too, which had caused all of them to snap their traps shut.

Master Vile was just two days returned to the mansion; along with being able to weasel himself back into the house, he had managed to also retain the room that he had been given—while his actions were still the same, he was keeping them down when his uncle was around.

The other members of his employer's family, rather surprisingly, were staying calm and cool; he guessed that they knew how much pressure their relative was in, and how much he didn't need anymore added to his shoulders, and he also guessed that they were giving him the respect that he needed.

"I don't care if you have to yank people from their beds or drag them from their homes—I want the open area, that's being used as a meeting point between me and the rioters, to be secured from the rooftops by fifty armed men." his employer was saying into the phone. Along with being up and about, he looked rather flustered. "Yes—on Ssaavoo you idiot! The rioting there will fall quicker than the ones that are happening on Axal... Get the area secured before noon today—should I arrive, and not see my demands honored, there'll be hell to pay!"

Slam! The phone came very close to breaking after being returned to its station.

Homsi, though reluctant to go forward, or to speak to the one who had just gotten through talking on the phone, was amazed at how well his employer looked—regardless of the stress that was on his shoulders, and his not getting in much sleep, he hadn't lost an ounce in weight, and he still looked and sounded strong. The man walked well; he had a good color to him; he wasn't slurring his speech; and he wasn't acting like he was confused either—Homsi had to admire this. If it had been he in his employer's shoes, dealing with all this business on Axalwen and Ssaavoo, he'd be one foot in the door to the nearest insane asylum.

The man, who was wearing a burgundy tuxedo, that was both striped and had a long, split tail on the back of its jacket, turned after slamming the phone's handset to its station. The sound of Teskon being messed with was heard, as was the sound of Teskon's cage being opened and of Teskon being taken from it; Master Tazir held his pet for a few minutes before returning him to his cage then turning to sit behind his desk.

"Mr. Modulavich," the man acknowledged him. "Hope all is well with you, and that you wasn't asked but so much to be searched this morning—the measures that I've implemented are important, and are to remain until my youngest son's knife is found, and all this mess with whatever's torturing my wife and kids stops, but I have made a motion to ensure that you, and the others in both my and my wife's Circles, aren't searched but so many times a day."

"Sir, I assure you that we understand the reason to why the searches are in place—neither I, nor any of your other employees, mind the pat downs or searches." Homsi responded truthfully. Ever since the pat downs, and searches, were put into effect, he had heard nothing on anyone detesting them; everyone knew why they were happening and were accepting them as they were being done.

"I'll cut to the chase with you, Homsi—I'm right busy, and will be for a while. I've asked for all in my and my wife's Circle to see me this morning." the man tapped his finger on the desk's surface twice before going on. "While I'll be popping in on my wife and children from time to time, I'm afraid that I can't adhere to my earlier made promise in doing so all day. Since I won't be available to be with them, or uphold my promise in checking in on them once every thirty minutes, I'd like for all of you to be with them today."

"We'll go by your order in doing so, sir."

"Glad to hear, Homsi." the man stood then rounded his desk. "Angel and I had a minor fight after waking up—she decided to make a trip to Earth last night, which I think was a right dangerous decision. Do you not agree?"

"I do, sir."

Mistress Angel had said that the one who was tormenting both her and her sons was on Earth; with the being's presumed location being what it was, he thought that it was a very dangerous thing for her to be going to the planet. Who said that the being, whoever he or she may be, was waiting for her, and was hoping to do further harm to her before she returned home? Mistress Angel, after coming to from the sedative, that had been given to her by the on-call doctor, had said something about the entity having not only the missing magazines and music but also Lhaklar's missing wallet and Lazeer's missing knife—with his hearing that she went to Earth last night, he got the idea of her going to purposely find them missing items and to, possibly, find the one who had them.

"Nothing was brought back from her trip, which makes me believe that she only went to find the items that are missing of our children's. After hearing that she went to the planet, I forbade her from going to it again—as a way to keep her home, I gave her Jaiboa, which she did require some prodding to take." TazirVile relayed.

"Good idea to do, sir." Homsi said. "I and the ones that you're to appoint to keep them in good company will do our best in looking after them."

"Happy to hear that, Homsi." TazirVile said. After saying this, he reached into his jacket; after removing a white envelope from his inside jacket pocket, he gave it over then went to sit back at his desk. "I'd like for my wife and children to take a trip to the nearest city for lunch, and for some shopping—have one of them outings where they can breathe and relax a little, got me?"

"Crystal, sir." Homsi nodded his head while pocketing the envelope that he was given.

"Good. While on their outing, I don't want any of you to stray from their side." TazirVile said. "If you are wondering, my wife, and our sons, are in the Pet Room. My sister-in-law is with them. Eshal's in the gym."

"Do you wish for me to retrieve and then take Miss. Eshal to where her mother and—"

"No, leave her be. Her grandfather is watching her at the moment, so she's fine." before he could say anything more, the phone rang. While grumbling, he picked it up then placed it to the side of his head; after answering the phone, he dismissed him.

After leaving the room, then going down the hallway, towards the stairwell that'd take him to the house's third level, he found it rather difficult to not smile. Master Tazir had done as any other husband would in allowing his wife to redesign, and decorate, several of the rooms that were in his home; while she had loved the task given to her, she hadn't gone overboard in decorating or redesigning and, really, she had only re-done three of the rooms that had been given to her. Mistress Angel, along with making up the design plans, and calling in the ones that were to aid her with two of the three rooms that she had been given to do, had taken it upon herself to use the tools and assist the people who were given the task of installing the room's created designs.

The Pet Room was the first room that she had taken to redesigning; she had decided to take all of the bedroom furniture out, and then the carpet, and then make it into a room that her pet Sekhems could use when they needed a play session. Up to when the room was created, her Sekhems, which had numbered two, had to be content with playing in a medium to large-sized playpen, that was routinely set-up in the gym—the two animals had just about had a hissy fit after seeing the room, and in being let loose to play in it.

"With her putting as much effort as she did into making the plans for that room, and then in helping to get it fixed up, it was no surprise to us that she was given another Sekhem." he thought while going up the stairs.

Two weeks after the room's construction was complete, a box had been found as being on the bed that the two slept on. Mistress Angel, while being reluctant to open it, had squealed after seeing and then taking the tiny, seven and a half week old Sekhem kit from it. Zeox and Exutho, while being a little rough with the little kit at first, had settled down and accepted her into their "horde" after five days time—at the time that they did so, the baby Sekhem was given the name of Elaye.

"Master Vile was very against her getting Zeox, Exutho, and Elaye..."

Along with voicing his detest on her getting the animals, he had shown her several records from where the animals had injured their owners; sometime after the records were shown, he had said that the rabies vaccine was very ineffective on the animals and that the animals required more than the basic care and attention that was required by the other domesticated pets that were known to be sold in stores. Mistress Angel, along with reading the reports given to her, had listened to the man speak before giving her opinion on what she was hearing and seeing.

"It's mentioned in a lot of these records that the animals bit and scratched their owners after their owners were rough with them—a Sekhem is known to not like rough-handling, dad, and I've not been bit or scratched by any of mine since getting them." was what the woman had said after looking at the records and then hearing the man out.

Zeox, Exutho, and Elaye were very on-schedule for their Rabies shots, which were doing wonders with them, and which were working on them, so Master Vile's claim on the vaccine being ineffective on them was incorrect. While what the man had said about the Sekhem needing more care and attention than that of what was required by the other domesticated pets out there his employer's wife was doing well with the ones that she had, so his attempt in scaring her from owning them by mentioning their care needs hadn't been successful.

From what they had seen and heard over the last few days, Master Vile seemed to have something against anyone owning any type of animal—he was very negative towards Zanra and, whenever the house's other pets were brought up, he scoffed before going on to ramble and then rant about them. The man's father, just yesterday, had told him to pipe down on his negativity towards Zanra—according to Kuruk, Master Vile had been raised around both cats and dogs and shouldn't be regarding them in the way he was.

Eldass had been the one to overhear the conversation on Kuruk saying that Master Vile had been raised around dogs, cats, and barnyard animals and it was he who had said that there was something very wrong on how the man acted around and treated anything that was regarded as a domestic pet. During that same overheard conversation, it had been learned that Master Vile had been bit by one of his father's dogs when he had been very little—according to the man's father, the man had been trying to ride the dog like a little horse, which had earned him the distinct honor of being bit by the animal. Master Vile had a "heavy" interest in snakes, but he owned none as pets—he claimed that he was too busy to have any and that they'd derive his attention from the task of working on his conquered realms, which they all called balls on.

Master Tazir had pets in his home, and he did well with his conquered realms. Kuruk had pets in his home, and he did well with his conquered realms. Shaam, Duru, and, they presumed, Trobrencus had pets in their homes and they did well with their conquered realms. With all of this being known, and with it also being known that the man owned, bred, and raised horses, cows, and sheep, they knew that his claim on being "too busy" to own a pet was wrong.

Master Vile, along with speaking negatively on Zanra, had also been seen as trying to kick her twice; this hadn't hit well with Master Tazir and his wife, and the man who had once owned the puppy had been phenomenally pissed after hearing of the event.

"Hop to it, Goblin! Make them short legs of yours get springs... hurry before the hare sees the fox!" TrobrencusVile said while they walked by one another.

"Cheating on Olok already?" Homsi teased.

He walked on down the hallway; the smile, that was on his face, spread after he mentioned his co-worker to the man who was still using his cane, fists, and feet on the hired help that his host employed. His smile faltered after he heard the man's progress down the hall cease, then it dropped completely after he felt the man's cane strike the back of his head—this would make the sixth time that the cane was taken to him, and the fourth that it had struck him.

Olok was still doing as he had been told to do in driving Trobrencus crazy; they really had to laugh inside at the man's antics and, while the man didn't like the man, he did have to agree with them on his actions being hilarious—Olok said that he was having fun, and was looking forward to each opportunity that he had in driving the man batty with his come-ons, and with making him feel uncomfortable.

The Pet Room was room number 9 on the house's third level; after he went by the first eight rooms, he slowed down before coming to a complete stop. After rubbing the back of his head, then straightening his tie and checking to see if he was presentable, he stretched his hand towards the door then grasped its knob. A single twist, followed by a shove, did the trick in opening the door; his action in taking two steps forward caused him to not only be in it but to take in and hear what was going on in it.

"I don't get you, Angel. You say that you understand why we're relieved in knowing that you're banned from going to Earth, and that you understand why your and Tazir's fight happened, yet you keep going on in saying that we have nothing to fear from your travels." Irka said when Homsi entered the room. "The one that's trying to possess, or get in contact with you, isn't a good person, honey. Not when he does magic, that makes the things that you're wearing strangle you he isn't."

"Bile, be careful now. Exutho wants to play, he doesn't want to fly." Angel said to her oldest son before responding to her grandmother. "The kid that's trying to get in contact with me isn't trying to intentionally hurt me. He seems to be—"

"Trying to contact his mother? You think I'm going to believe that, Angel? You have no other children than the ones you have... this demonic entity is trying to trick you—he's trying to change his appearance and demeanor to make you think he's harmless when he's not." Irka said quickly.

"He wasn't any changed from what I saw—except for his wearing a different pair of pants, he looked the same." Angel said. "Bile, I'm only going to say this one more time—feather-like swishes; you're playing with a Sekhem, not trying to fly fish."

"Sorry ma, keep forgetting the strength that I put into my swishes." Bile was fast in replying.

"Don't think it matters—Exutho looks to of lost interest." Lazaar, who was standing beside his brother, mumbled in Bile's ear.

Exutho wasn't the only one to have a short attention span; all three of his mother's pets were having trouble in concentrating on one thing and there were several reasons to why. The first was that the animals seemed to have the attention span of a toddler while the second was the fact that there were a lot of people in the room.

It wasn't just he and his brothers, and their mother, in the room; Aunt Irka, and four Goblins, were in it too. Two of the Goblins were standing by the door—judging by how they had said hello to them after entering the room, he guessed that they were friendly—and there was a rather grumpy Goblin across the room from them. The fourth Goblin was newly arrived; after entering the room, then going over to say hello and good morning to their mother, he went to stand beside Eldass—it was he, and his oldest son, who were standing on either side of the door. At the moment, he didn't know the other guy's name—all the guy had done was come in, make a grunting sound while passing by their mother, then take up position by the wall; he looked very uninterested in what was going on in the room and, going by his demeanor and stance, he guessed that he was angry over having his better and more interesting activities be canceled in favor of being with them for the day.

The third reason to why the Sekhems were so easily distracted, or had an interest in one thing for a few minutes before going on to the next and then the next and so on, revolved in the animals that his aunt owned.

"Is that all they do—roll, or bounce?" Lazeer whispered to Lhaklar after going to where he was.

"Good question, and one that I have no answer to." Lhaklar returned in a low whisper.

There were four of them—three small and one large—and they resembled the creatures that had been in that 1986 science fiction movie, Critters. Each were round, with the biggest being ten inches wide and long, and none had legs or necks or even tails on them. The bigger of the four was covered in coarse, white hair; she had red, almond-shaped eyes set in a cat-like face. Two of the three smaller creatures were either brown or black while the third had black, brown, and white fur on it.

After being released from the pink monstrosity that was their animal carrier, the four animals started zooming around the room—they either remained on the floor while rolling around or, thanks to the momentum of their rolls, they rolled along on the walls or on the boards that were rigged up on the walls. Some of the smaller animals had taken to bouncing around as well. All of this rolling and bouncing around had done wonders in making the Sekhems be distracted, and in making everyone fearful of walking around.

According to his aunt, the animals were called Roe-Poe's; the bigger of the four was named Gahzie while the three smaller animals were her babies.

"Guess being in here, with Aunt Irka and her odd pets, is better than being where Mr. McBitch'n'Grumble is." he thought after taking up a cat wand and then wiggling it. Zeox, the older of his mother's pets, ran over then started chasing after the ball that was on its end.

Breakfast, while being decent, would of been a lot better if not for dad's bitching at him and Hazaar to watch themselves; he and Hazaar were both a little testy that morning—that damn Temperamental phase had them in its grasp... had the old man understood that, or even tried to understand why they were the way they were? Uh, no. The man had snapped at them, and then promised punishments if they didn't quit fighting among themselves—and, in Hazaar's case, get a little more cheery and drop the chip from his shoulder. While they knew that he was a little stressed out—things "at work", and at home, weren't the best for him right now—they did wish that he'd calm down and mellow out when he was around them.

Hazaar was just one day away from being free of his given punishment of being grounded for a week—ma had dropped a week from the initial-given punishment after hearing all the shit that her "husband" was giving them. At breakfast, he had been threatened of his one-day away freedom; Lhaklar, who had been let off the hook by their mother, had also been threatened of his freedom during breakfast. Bile, yesterday, at around lunch and then supper-time, had been threatened of his freedom and he, for the last two days, had heard near-constant threats on his. All of these given threats were doing nothing in lessening their stress levels, or in lightening the image that their father had gained on himself.

Hazaar, at the moment, was sitting all by his lonesome in one of the room's corners; his brother didn't look to of had much sleep over the last two nights so it wouldn't surprise him if he found him as taking a nap sometime later on that morning. It was just he, Bile, and Lhaklar who were up and about in the room.

"Which is very well set-up for our mother's pets."

The hardwood floor was a bright honey color while the walls looked to have maple wood paneling on them; the ceiling was a very light brown color, and had all sorts of dangling, bell-like lights hanging from it. All sorts of shelves and ramps were on the walls; the cat trees were either small or big, and were numerous; and there were many scratching posts and toys to accommodate the ones that the room looked to be set-up for.

So far, he had played with Exutho with a blue and white, rubber ball and with Zeox with two cat wands and with a rope that had a series of mouse-like things on one of its ends. Elaye, after being set down, had gone to town on the tunnels, which were built into the floor, and with one of the ropes that were both hanging from the ceiling and that had some sort of fuzzy ball on their ends.

From what he was able to see, Zeox, Exutho, and Elaye loved the room—if not for his aunt's "pets", they'd probably be having a better than fine blast in playing in it.

"Ma stopped playing with her pets when Irka came in." he thought after his mother took up a very pink tickle wand then started flicking it about the room. Elaye, the younger of her three pets, went after it at once. She chased after it by running up the ramps, then across the shelves, before jumping to catch it in mid-air. The animal had only just come close to catching the feather that was on the wand's end when she stopped and then hissed—the bigger of his aunt pets rolled before her, then barred her from going anywhere for the longest time, before zipping to the side and then "slamming" against the wall.

The animal that's play was just interrupted had a very annoyed look on her face; he was about to take up for the animal, and voice her annoyance for her, when the door to the room opened. His father, looking very much the same as he had been during breakfast, walked in then stopped to take everyone and everything in.

"Irka, my brother wishes to—" he, along with the four room-present Goblins, cringed after two of the Roe-Poe's crashed into the walls and then zoomed along on the shelves. When one of the animals rolled around before him, then around his feet, he grew angry. "Irka! Must you allow for your pets to run around like this?"

"Sorry, Tazzy, but that's how they play." Irka said apologetically.

"These pets of yours are going to put either you, my brother, or one of your kids in the hospital one of these days." TazirVile said after receiving passage to walk in the room.

"Not if you watch where they're going." Irka said.

"Ir..." TazirVile stopped; he looked at the ceiling then shook his head. His brother's wife was very fond of her pets and he knew that she'd have a come-back for everything that he said on them. "Except for saying that you and my brother shouldn't of snuck them in here, I'm not getting into it with you on these pets of yours today. Kuruk wants to speak with you."

"Is it important?"

"Yes."

"Okay... let me collect Gahzie, and her kids, then I'll leave to see him."

The woman started the process of trying to collect her pets; it did seem that with every attempt that she did she was met with failure, which was both comical and a little annoying at the same time. The animals either rolled or bounced from her grasp. She wasn't able to catch or pick any up for the longest of time before making the decision to go to the carrier; a can of what-they-believed was Roe-Poe snacks was removed from the bag and then shaked. One shake was all it took for the animals to race towards her. Once they were before her, she picked them up then put them in the carrier; when they were all in the carrier, she stopped to catch her breath.

"If they weren't cooped up in the chamber that you assigned my husband and I they'd not have all this pent-up energy, Tazir." she said after zipping the carrier and then taking it up.

Homsi winced after she said what she did; while his employer, and his employer's sister-in-law, fought he remembered what happened when the woman's pets were discovered.

Attaec Ioniff, after going to clean the room that Kuruk and Irka were given to inhabit, had had a hissy fit after opening the door then seeing the four creatures zooming past her. The poor woman had perceived the animals as rodents, and had about screamed herself silly after seeing them as racing down the hallway, and then bouncing on the walls. Master Tazir, after leaving his and his wife's bedroom, had been livid after seeing the animals; his brother, on the other hand, had done nothing but stare at them before going to corral and then collect them. At the time of Kuruk, and his family's arrival, none of them had had any boxes or crates on them that'd be able to hold four Roe-Poe's, which meant that they had, somehow, slipped them in via a spell.

After the animals were noted as being in his house, and after they were caught and then returned to the room that their owner and her husband slept in, Master Tazir summoned his brother to his office—a lot of yelling had been heard, most coming from his employer while around a quarter of it coming from his brother. After the yelling was done, Kuruk spoke on why the animals were in the house.

Kuruk was "famous" for cutting the heat and cooling system in his house down during the times where he and his were away for a stretch of time; due to the Roe-Poe needing a temperature of over seventy degrees to be happy and healthy, they couldn't be left at home or be put in the care of one of the hired help. Kuruk, after explaining the reason to why the animals were in the house, had said that he'd pay for any damages that they did during his and his family's stay—after saying this, he had been rather cold in saying that, until his and his family's stay was up, they weren't to be sent home. Master Tazir, after exploding, then telling the man that he was the one to make that decision and not he, had said that they could stay on the condition that they remain in the room that their owner slept in. If not for Irka going to the man, then asking if she could let the four animals run around in Mistress Angel's pet room, the animals wouldn't be in the room or distracting, or annoying, the ones that were in it.

After the two's fight concluded, Irka left the room in a huff; his employer was fast in clearing his throat after she was out of his presence. After his throat was cleared, he went towards his wife, who now had the full and rather happy-acting attention of Zeox and Elaye.

"Hazaar asleep over there, or just resting?" TazirVile asked after reaching his wife's side, then noticing that his secondborn son was sitting with his eyes nearly shut in one of the room's corners.

"Probably sleeping," Angel replied. "He didn't sleep all that much last night."

"Again? What in the dickens is keeping him up at night?" TazirVile sighed after hearing this. What, was today to be a day for issues or something?

While there was a lot more to it than his just plain not getting in a good night's sleep he let his mother tell the tale on what he had told her that morning—knowing his father, he might not believe it if it was being told by him instead.

From the fifteenth to the seventeenth, he had been tormented by the shadow manifestations that formed on the wall of his bedroom; along with doing their usual, strange dances, he had heard certain sounds that he shouldn't be hearing from them, which had caused his already anxious self to not want to go to sleep. Only after taking a trip to his parents' room, then rummaging around in their medicine cabinet for some sleep aid medicine, had he gotten any sleep on them nights; due to his parents looking to not be all that asleep on the eighteenth, and last night, he had forgoed the option of going into the room and then taking what he needed, which was why he had been so sleepy yesterday and was so sleepy that morning.

A new torture had started being experienced on the eighteenth; the second his head hit the pillow, he had been plagued with dreams, which seemed so real that they were scary, and which he hadn't spoken a word of to his mother or father.

In the first dream, a dark-skinned being had been seen as walking up to a man who looked like a police officer, but who was wearing olive khakis and a very light olive work-shirt. The being had spoken to the man in very fluent German, asking about where the nearest jewelry store was, and he had been answered with a _down the street, take a left, then you'll see it_. That was where the dream ended; the one that came after it had seemed connected to it in some way that he couldn't comprehend or figure out.

Wellendorff was where the second dream took place in; after the dark-skinned being walked into the store, then went to the available clerk, he slammed his hand down on the counter then asked for the clerk's attention and assistance. Again, he had spoken in very fluent German.

"Need some jewels appraised." he had said.

"I might be able to help you with that." the clerk, a rather pretty creature who had strawberry-blonde hair, green eyes, and a moderately tan skin complexion, replied.

A diamond necklace, a gold necklace, and a bracelet that matched the gold necklace, had been removed from the guy's pocket and then placed on the counter; the woman, after looking them over, had said that they were valued at $1,295—the guy hadn't liked that appraisal and, honestly, he also thought that it was absurd. The guy, after saying that her assessment was wrong, then requesting that she check the items again, then being told that she wouldn't, had taken the items that had been "assessed" from the counter and then left the store in a huff—this was where dream #2 ended, and where he woke up and then decided to stay awake for an hour before trying to go back to sleep.

The next dream revolved around the dark-skinned guy visiting two other jewelry stores; he had grown very angry at the first store's clerk after he assessed his items as being $2,205 while, at the second store, he had been thrown out after declaring the one who assessed his items as being a fraud and only wanting to assess his items at the low price of $550 so he could gain them and then sell them for a much higher price. The third store that the guy visited had proved to be a mistake—after having his items assessed at $1,070, then bickering with both the clerk and the store's manager, he had been picked up by the police and then carted to jail. He hadn't stayed behind bars for long; after the man who put him in the cell left the area, he teleported from the cell then went to collect the items that had been taken from him. He teleported from the station just before the presiding police officers could pull out their weapons or try to arrest him again.

In the next dream, the guy had had a better run of success; the lady in the store that he went to had assessed his jewels at $5,495, and had said that she'd pay him right then and there for them for that price. The guy had accepted her offer, then had been given the money for the items that he had just gotten assessed, then had left.

"My alarm was like a saving grace on the morning of January 19—the dreams stopped, and they became very fragmented in my memory... or, at least until that night." he thought.

After falling asleep, he had found himself as being in an area that looked very non-American. He had seen a series of bushes, that he had never seen before while living on the American continent, and a lot of trees that, again, didn't look like those that were known to be on the American continent. After taking in the trees and bushes, he had seen that he was in a camp of some sort.

The white sheet was hanging over the branch of an overhanging tree, and was weighted down on the sides by rocks; the needle-like leaves, that were on the branch, were a dark yellow-green color, and the pine cones looked a little brittle and cold. A fire pit had been present in the camp's center—the fire, that was in it, was low but seemingly stationary; the cooker, that was over the fire, had looked crudely made but holding up to the purpose of holding the piece of meat that was on it.

The owner of the camp was in the tent at the time; while taking in the camp's various items, and waiting for whatever was to happen in the dream to occur, he had seen that most, if not all, of the items that he and his brothers were missing were by the tent's front end.

After seeing the missing items that were owned by him and his brothers, he had seen nothing else in the camp—the Mountain Lion pelt, the Lynx pelt, the skull of a wild boar, and the two sets of antlers, one that looked to belong to a Moose while the other looked to once be owned by a Mule deer, had all been lying out and in the open but he hadn't paid all that much attention to them.

After seeing the collection of music and magazines, and Lhaklar's wallet and Lazeer's pocketknife, he had gotten up to both retrieve them and to teach the one who had them a lesson—being that he was dreaming, he hadn't found himself as being all that surprised over not being able to get up or go to them. After around four or so attempts to get up, he made a sound then slumped to the side—he liked to believe that it was the sound that he had made that attracted the camp's owner, and he also liked to believe that it was the sound that he had made that caused him to think that the dream wasn't a dream but some sort of magic usage that he either didn't know or was aware of.

The camp's owner, who turned out to be the dark-skinned guy, looked out from the tent then crawled out from it; after collecting something from the pile of music, then looking at the area around him, he came towards him then sat down.

"Uhm... hello, can I help you with something or—" he remembered saying.

"About dang-k time! You people are really making-k me put all tha-k-t I've learned at the schools that I was sent to to work." the guy returned.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Say again? I have limited connec-k-tion with you H-To-The-R-Man." the guy said.

"H-To-The-R-Man?" hearing that had sparked up some memories. Nearly four hundred years ago, he had been called that; with his having such a dislike to the name, he had ignored the ones who had used it, which had caused it to stop being used. "Who are you?"

"What was that? I heard only part of wha-k-t you said."

"Who are you?" he said again, only louder this time.

"Again, I didn-k-t get that." the guy looked down at his lap forlornly before looking at him again; nothing was said between the two of them for a matter of seconds before the one before him held the case to one of his missing music discs up. "I didn't steal from you guys out of greed—I only wan-k-ted to get your at-k-tention. That's the only way I can ge-k-t in contact now—the force that barred me from contacting you five has gone away... but i-k-t's been replaced by something else. I'm depressed over no-k-t being able to see or talk to you guys, mum especially... and I'm angered too. Why are you five distancing-k yourselves from me? Wha-k-t have I done to make you five distance yourselves from me?"

"If we knew who you was we wouldn't distance ourselves from you." he replied.

"Dangit-all!" the guy stood up then walked away. He had stayed where he was for a short while before come back; after re-taking his seat before him, he said, "I apologize, bruder, but I have no choice bu-k-t to try to expel this power or force tha-k-t's banned me from contacting you five. This migh-k-t scare and hurt you some—get ready."

The warning hadn't been heeded; for some reason, he had felt himself as being yanked up, and then flying through som vacuum of darkness, before falling back to the body that he possessed. At the time of his waking up, he had found himself as being bound to his bed—some sort of pressure had been present on his stomach and wrists, and he had felt a sort of pain in his arms. For a fleeting second, he had seen something as lunging at him—the pressure, and pain, had grown before he started voicing his fear on what was going on, which had woken almost everyone in the house up.

The act of his amulet breaking, and its liquid splashing against him, had caused him to scream even louder—it was no surprise to him that, when the room's light was turned on, he had experienced a sort of black-out. After coming to, he had seen that his parents and siblings, and one of his two grandfathers, were in his room—except for his father, everyone had been worried about him. His father, after Bile, Lhaklar, and Lazeer ripped and then tossed their amulets from themselves, had grown very angry—before his mother was able to tell the man to calm down, he had threatened him of being punished if he didn't stop the charade. Momma had told him to leave the room after the threat was made, which had caused the man to grow even angrier.

As his mother gave his father a re-telling of the events that happened last night, he felt a tear form and then release from his left eye. He was just reaching up to wipe it away when his father spoke on what he had just heard.

"With all that I've gone through these last few months, I'm not all that surprised that I acted in the way I did last night. I apologize for my actions." TazirVile said. Up to his being told all of what happened last night, he had forgotten it all; he felt bad for how he acted towards his son now. "Is he alright?"

"I honestly don't know," Angel replied. "I'm right concerned about him. His wrists are bruised and, from them on up to his elbows, there's a deep gash present."

"Say ag... Hazaar, come here for a second please." TazirVile breathed in his shock.

Hazaar came close to yelling for his mother to not speak about the bruises and gashes that he had—they hadn't been on his body last night... upon waking up, he had found and then grown more than a little freaked out by their presence. They, and they alone, told him that what he experienced was real, and that it was no dream or figment of his imagination.

After what happened last night, he had taken to sleep in Lazeer's bedroom—the two of them had shared the same bed, which was a very rare event in itself. After waking, then going to leave the room, he had looked down to see the wreck that was his wrists and arms. Instead of yelling for his parents, and waking the still-sleeping folk in the house up, he had gone to his bedroom. After doctoring himself, then doing his usual routine of getting dressed, and then using the bathroom, he had gone to find his mother. After finding her, then telling her some what he was going through, he had unwrapped his arms and then shown them to her—she had just about had a heart attack after seeing what was on them. Up to now, only he and she knew about the wounds that he had on himself—his brothers were fast in looking at him as he got up from the floor, then crossed the room.

The wrap of bandaging, that was on his arms, was removed then his father took in the items that he wanted to see. The fact that his arms were a near-black color, and stung like hell, almost made him start to cry—when his father started "touching" the gashes and bruises, he _did_ start crying.

"A priest is coming over right after you, and the children, leave for your scheduled outing this afternoon." TazirVile said. Thanks to his labored breathing, his chest hurt; he had never seen gashes, or bruises, of this severity on a child before and he hoped to never see them again. The fact that they were on his son made him grow cold in the stomach; due to his actions last night, he felt like he had betrayed his son. What had he done after hearing Hazaar screaming, and then after going into his room to see what was up—had he been comforting, or done any checking for possible injuries, or heard the boy out on what was bothering him? No! Instead, he had yelled at him, and threatened to punish him for voicing his fear on what was going on between him and the presence that had obviously been out to hurt him. "Angel, I'm having you, and the children, sent out to have some time in one of the nearby cities at around noon—the ones in our Most Trusted Circles will join you.

"He wasn't attacked by a—"

"He _was_ attacked by a demon, Angel! _This_ was caused by a demon, not by some punk-kid!" TazirVile yelled. All three of his wife's pets ran off in fear; their sons reacted by standing stock-still while most of the Goblins went forward to bar them from coming forward. "Angel, a man who's blind and deaf would be able to see that this is the work of a demon—our son wouldn't of been hurt by some kid who's looking for or trying to get in contact with another in his family. This is the work of a malevolent force, baby... an entity bent on hurting others and—"

"Everyone would of felt something if he was a malevolent entity." Angel said.

"Everyone _has_ felt something of this entity, Angel! He, or whatever gender it is, has harmed you and the boys—whoever it is has tortured all five of you and, by doing that, everyone in this place has been effected." TazirVile re-wrapped his son's arms then sent him on his way. After sending his son on his way, he turned to look at his wife, who was fast in taking a fear-filled step from him. "A priest is coming to bless this house, Angel. I want you, and our children, out of here before he, or she, arrives. Got me?"

Angel felt a dread fall over her as she nodded her head; while she knew that Tazir was being a protective parent, and spouse, she saw his act of bringing a priest in as wrong. It wasn't a demon that was tormenting them—she felt and knew this now, which would mean that a priest might well cause more harm than good—but Tazir was steadfast on it being that and that she stick to being an adult in seeing things his way. After nodding her head, she felt a sense of guilt override her—who was it that was tormenting her and her sons? Why was he tormenting them and did he have someone to go to, or was he all on his own with no one to help or guide him in how to do things?

Her husband made his rounds in checking Bile, Lhaklar, and Lazeer; he checked their arms and legs, and then stomachs and backs, for marks then, when he saw that neither of them had anything on their bodies, he left the room. Once he was out of the room, the Sekhems went back to playing with their toys. Bile resumed his session in swinging the cat wand that he had in his hand, and Lazeer tossed a few of the toy balls for the Sekhems to chase; Lhaklar, meanwhile, went over to sit beside his mother. Hazaar, after reaching the corner that he had formerly sat in, sat down then went to sleep—he wasn't bothered for a total of thirty minutes before being aroused and then told to follow them from the room.


	35. Chapter 35

From the Moas _Proctoris Times_ , January 21, 4100 (Page 1)  
Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit: Becoming Unsettled Again?

For some, her actions were purely instinctive and appropriate for a parent while, to others, they were unacceptable and suspicious. Behaviorists, who have examined both photographs and video taken during the early afternoon hours of January 20, all say that Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit, the youngest daughter of our ruler, Master Vile, was acting like any other parent should after finding herself, and her family of four sons and one daughter, surrounded by photographers and news reporters and after finding that one of the throng surrounding her had separated her from one of her children. Regardless of what the behaviorists say, many are wanting to know what's going on with the woman, and her children, and how life is under her roof.

Yesterday, just before twelve-noon, two vehicles were seen as leaving the residence that's owned and resided in by the TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit family; while some of the folk who've remained gate and fence-side, with hope of seeing and catching photographic and video evidence of the newly returned Surfeits, remained at their station there were a few who got into their cars and then followed the vehicles. The whereabouts of the two vehicles were known for all of thirty minutes before both were noted as being teleported to a different location. The ones who were following the two vehicles were forced to turn about and then return to the gate and fence—while the people returned to their prior station fine they didn't remain there; after learning that Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit, and her four sons, and EshalVile Eskara Surfeit, who's Mrs. Vile-Surfeit's adoptive daughter and the biological daughter of Bespe Rakaduc, were in Calalron Mall, which is one of the largest malls in Apalix City, which is located thirty-five miles from Mr. Surfeit's residence, they took the trip there to see them. Trouble, it is said, occurred right after they were seen.

"They were eating lunch when we found them... along with all being present, they also had a trove of Goblins around them." Zlurokk Kryyot, one of the photographers who was there to witness what happened, said when questioned on the happenings in the mall. "I'd say around ten or so Goblins were seated at the tables around them... there was no sign of Mr. Surfeit with the group."

It wasn't until later that it was discovered that TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit, the Universal Mate of Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit, and the biological father of three of her four sons, was on Ssaavoo, a planet in the Bula Galaxy, which is currently in his possession; while the man was dealing with rioters, and trying to return order to the governments on the planet, his wife, and their children, were dealing with a mini-battle of their own. From what video and photographic evidence has shown, one of the Goblins seated around the family stood after seeing a small group of photographers and news reporters approaching the area where the family was dining at—the same man called in several of his group after seeing that the ones that he had gone to intercept and then escort from the area weren't doing as he wanted them to do.

All four of Mrs. Vile-Surfeit's sons acted nervously, but remained in their seats as the Goblins took care of matters in making the ones who were trying to question them to back off; Mrs. Vile-Surfeit, and her children, seemed to of done some shopping during their trip—an assortment of bags was noted as being either beside them or hanging from the backs of their chairs by the men and women who were there to question them. After peace in the area where the family was in was restored, the Goblins returned to their post; when the group was done in eating their lunch, which is presumed to of come from the nearby restaurant of Ne'Flav Pizzaria, they stood then made as to leave the area—it is here where the chaotic events happened.

"We did as any other in our profession would in following them... several of us got close enough to attract the attentions of the Goblins, who were surrounding the family. After two of the Goblins' attention was gained, my friend ran forward... towards the younger of her [Mrs. Vile-Surfeit's] sons. The Goblins, and she, went crazy after that happened." Hojizah Haern, a reporter from the Y'kbor News, who was there to witness the events that unfolded between the family, the Goblins, and the photographers and news reporters, said.

Witnesses to the event claim that LazeerVile Zuluduz Surfeit, the youngest son of Mrs. Vile-Surfeit and Mr. Surfeit, was separated from the group by the reporter who rushed into the group, who's name is unknown and isn't being disclosed. The Goblins were fast in surrounding Mrs. Vile-Surfeit and her remaining children; somehow in the mayhem, the youngster that was separated from the group was missed by all of them. When the boy's mother went to retrieve him, the Goblins prevented her from doing so, which caused her to fight them—Mrs. Vile-Surfeit's violent actions occurred after she got loose of her party then reached her young son's side. Lazeer, it is said, was surrounded by reporters and photographers, and was an emotional mess, at the time that he saw his mother coming for him.

A camera was broken; Mrs. Vile-Surfeit has been reported to be the cause of two or three broken noses and one of the reporters gained a broken arm—camera footage shows him as holding his arm out to her, and standing in her way, before the event happened. The man who's arm was broken did file a report for domestic assault; after the events on what happened were investigated, his charge was dropped. No other charges were placed on Mrs. Vile-Surfeit.

"That man deserved what he got—he was standing in front of her son, who was scared half to death, and he prevented her from going to him." Niiwa Sayklon, one of the patrons who was in the mall at the time, said while being questioned. "I was there, and I heard him yell for her to not come a step closer—she told him to step out of the way, so she could go to her son, and he came back with a no. With his arm being raised towards her, I'm pretty sure that she took him as a threat to both herself and her child."

After retrieving her son, she and her other sons—Bile Vile (sired by Master Vile, who claimed Mrs. Vile-Surfeit through Family Law as a wife), LhaklarVile Closhu Surfeit, and HazaarVile Tlair Surfeit—fled the area. The second they were out of the mall, the Goblins split up—presumably to find them and to take them home. Miss. EshalVile Surfeit was taken from the area by one of the men who stayed behind to look after her.

It wasn't until some hours later that the family was found and then removed from the city.

From the Moas _Huround_ , January 22, 4100 (Page 1)  
Fight In Park—Mrs. Vile-Surfeit Spotted Fighting A Goblin?

The ones who were in Apalix City's Klilm Park received a shock after noticing the happenings between Mrs. Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit, the daughter of our ruler, Master Vile, and the wife of both Master Vile and TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit, and the Goblin who ran up from nowhere. After noon-hour on January 20, Mrs. Vile-Surfeit, and her four sons and one adoptive daughter, were seen as being in Apalix City's Calalron Mall and, due to events that occurred after the family were being escorted from the area that they were dining in, a majority of them ran off to, it's presumed, calm down and get away from the ones that were causing them grief. Several hours after escaping the Goblins, who are said to number at around ten, and who are said to be their escorts for the day, they were approached by one of their former party—the meeting, more so for the Goblin than for Mrs. Vile-Surfeit, did not go well.

"They weren't really hiding or anything—they were sitting, in plain view, under a Desert Ostin, that was in the far southern corner of the park." a witness, who wishes to remain anonymous, said of the events that she saw. "The Goblin ran out from nowhere... when she saw him, she ran out from under the tree then started fighting him. Her sons did nothing but stay under the tree the entire time they were fighting."

The Goblin, after receiving two to three injuries, was run off; no sooner was he run off before being replaced by two others who, unlike the one who was injured, didn't go forward to retrieve the family right after seeing them. It took all of twenty minutes before Mrs. Vile-Surfeit allowed for one of the men to come near her, and then near her sons. She, and her sons, were removed from the area a couple of minutes after the man approached them; though questions have been asked, and reports on domestic assaults have been filed on her and then thrown out after the presiding judge saw the evidence, she, and they, haven't been seen since.

"I'll base my anger, and what all demotions I give out, on what I'm told in the next ten minutes." TazirVile said after throwing the two newspaper articles to his desk. He gave each of the ten Goblins, who were standing before him, a fierce eye-balling before sitting back in his chair. "When I left here, I gave an order for all of you to look after my wife and children—I put my trust in you and this is what I get in return? What were you doing when Lazeer got separated from the group—standing there, picking your noses and counting the clouds? I could of lost my wife and sons!"

"Sir, with due respect, I apologize for what happened six days ago. I was leading everyone out of the area when it happened; of the ten of us, only eight formed as tight a circle as we could around them." Eldass was fast in picking his words carefully; though it didn't look it from his front-side, his hands were laced behind him. "Ahggen Negol and Luad Zaanzek were the ones who weren't in the circle, sir, but they had a reason for this—they were trying to keep the reporters and photographers back. Of the ones with us, it was Koftu Bojus who left us hanging—and it was he who caused all of what happened on the twentieth, sir."

"Sir, that is a lie." Koftu Bojus, a large Goblin who had very light blue skin, powder blue eyes, and blue-black hair, said in his defense. Koftu ran his hand down the front of his dark blue tuxedo jacket before going on. "When I saw that the reporters and photographers weren't going to back off, and that Mr. Zultoa wasn't trying to hurry everyone along, I decided to take your wife and sons from the area. Young Master Lazeer ran off before I could stop him and your wife took after him."

"That, sir, is a huge lie." Homsi spat politely. He gave Koftu Bojus a glare before turning his gaze towards his employer. "Koftu did not take to leading anyone anywhere—after the reporters and photographers grabbed Ahggen and Luad's attention, then that one guy ran in, Koftu shoved your son. It was this that caused him to be separated from the group." he let what he said set in on the man that he was talking to before going on. "Your son was very upset over being separated from his mother, and over finding himself as being surrounded by people that either had a camera or a microphone in their hands. Your son's hysteria, coupled by his not being with the rest of us, is what caused your wife to get violent."

"What Mr. Modulovich says is true, sir." Luad Zaanzek, a very muscular Goblin who had light brown skin, dark brown eyes, and very red hair, said. "I and Mr. Negol did break out from the group but only to make the reporters and photographers back off—while I didn't see Mr. Bojus shove your son I did see him try to trip your wife when she was going to retrieve him."

Homsi and Koftu Bojus locked eyes; if not for their employer being in the area, they would of started fighting one another. It was a very well-known fact by all of their co-workers than they didn't like each other—the cause for this was also very well-known.

Koftu was just a hundred years in on working for TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit; while around the man, he was somewhat pleasant and professional while, when the man was away from him, he was outrageously unpleasant and was either slow and sluggish or plain refused to work. Koftu lived in the next county, in a house that he was pretty far behind in paying the mortgage of, and he had a wife and a young son—these two, latter things didn't matter much to the man; he wasn't very faithful in his marriage. Koftu liked both genders, but it seemed that he preferred men over women—this assumption came from his habit of chasing after his male co-workers. Of the men that he had chased, the most notable was Olok Gzujus, who he had chased for all of three weeks before finally finding himself as being turned on and then asked what he wanted.

Eldass had heard a melody of tales from Olok's brother about how many times Koftu had lied to Olok on certain things that were either happening, about to happen, or had happened in his life. Koftu, during week one of his and Olok's brief relationship, said that his marriage was failing and that he was getting a divorce; during week two of the relationship, the man said that he was already divorced from his spouse; while, in the third and final week, he said that he was single and had never married legally. After three weeks of lies, and abuse, Olok broke the relationship off then put as much distance between he and his former partner as he could—it was from Olok that they knew what they did about Koftu Bojus.

"He's the son of Szayot Bojus and Bonyita Yashmhum; along with having three sisters, who have two or three kids a-piece, he has a very alcoholic uncle. He's married to a woman by the name of Velveecia Glodolett; their son, Zeylo, is just fifty-nine years old."

Koftu had spent a total of two hundred and seventy-five years in Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic—but not for the reason that he had told most of their co-workers; according to the man, he stayed an extra seventy-five years to attend a few more classes and gain a few more smarts. In reality, he had been a trouble-maker during his schooling days. His grades had been poor; he had gotten more than twenty detentions; and he had been suspended twice, and nearly expelled once. Most of his teachers had passed him to get him out of their classroom. After graduating from the school, he had pressured his father into enrolling him at Miliant's Academy, where he had been given the prompt boot from no more than ten years after walking through its doors. After being expelled from Militant's Academy, Koftu pressured his father into sending him to Staffer's Academy—before walking through the doors, his father sent him to a doctor to be checked out. After being told that he had a slight mental problem, that caused him to lose control of his temper very easily, and that caused him to not concentrate as well as one should, he had been put on some medicine.

The meds prescribed to him had done the trick in evening out Koftu; along with getting good to halfway decent grades in Staffer's Academy, he also stayed out of trouble. Like most everyone who went to the school, he started looking for work right after graduation occurred.

"He did several, low-paying jobs before being approached by Rilam Salirok—the man employed him as a bodyguard, and as a truck driver."

He did very little in being a bodyguard, but he had sure played a good part in driving Mr. Salirok's sheep, pigs, and chickens to the building where they'd be processed for meat. The man worked for Mr. Salirok for all of fifty years before finding himself as landing "the job of an opportunity". Mr. Salirok, a longtime friend of Mr. Surfeit's, had heard that his friend was in the market for a bodyguard and had turned his attention towards Koftu—the man had no more learned about the man's job transition before heaving a sigh of relief.

Koftu had claimed that he was a most excellent employee for Rilam Salirok, and that he was quite surprised over having him turn him over to the man that he currently worked for; Olok, after the relationship between the two of them was broken off, looked into the claim and had found that it was nothing more than a bunch of bananas.

Along with being known to arrive long behind schedule with the livestock that Rilam desired to be turned into meat, and being noted as being a heavy-duty drunk, he had done plenty of mouthing off at his employer and had caused a lot of fights between himself and his co-workers.

Unless he had a mind for one of his male co-workers, or had an out-of-the-blue friendship with someone, Koftu was a rather mean man with almost everyone. He had already been noted as slapping several of his female co-workers around, and tripping, or shoving, his male co-workers for no reason; whenever Mr. Surfeit wasn't around, or wasn't at home, the man increased his abuse and also tried to take control of the house and its inhabitants. If he wasn't giving out orders, or throwing his fists or feet at everyone, he was trying to evict the ones that lived under their employer's roof. The hard feelings between Homsi and Koftu started on the afternoon of July 12, 3412—with Homsi accompanying Mr. Surfeit on one of his searches for his wife and sons, Koftu tried to seduce his wife into bed. When the woman refused his advances and seduction, he reacted by placing the eviction notice on her and her husband's door—a quick call to Homsi on what was going on had taken care of that matter, and had also gained Koftu a sworn enemy for life. Master Tazir had reprimanded Koftu, and had cut his pay and sent him on a few-week vacation, but he hadn't fired him.

After Koftu returned from his vacation, he set in on trying to dethrone Homsi from their employer's Most Trusted Circle. While the man hadn't succeeded in doing that he had succeeded in becoming a member of the few-member Circle that was their employers.

"Makes my blood boil every time I hear about it." was what Homsi said whenever the subject was brought up.

The same went for Eldass, who wasn't all that favoring towards Koftu or towards how he had gotten his position in their employer's Circle. Eldass and Homsi had been given the honor of being in their employer's Circle by hard work and by being available to speak to; Koftu, instead of doing either, had lied about working his can off and had stalked Master Tazir for close to eleven months before being awarded his ill-begotten title.

After being awarded the status of being the third member of their employer's Most Trusted Circle, Koftu had smiled wide before going on in trying to get Homsi either demoted or fired. More than a hundred lies were spun on Homsi and his "activities" before Master Tazir silenced the man and then said for him to not try anything in overthrowing his decision in having Homsi as one in his Circle—the man had done the same after Koftu started going after and doing the same with Eldass. Of the hundred years that Koftu had worked for TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit, he had been in the man's Circle for less than twenty-three; though ending his attempts in getting his two co-workers removed from the Circle, or demoted or fired, he still detested them.

Homsi and Eldass, long before Koftu became the third member of their employer's Circle, had already started distancing themselves from him; up to six days ago, they hadn't worked around or in-incognito with the man in a long time.

The two had hated every minute of having to work alongside the man and the man seemed very mutual with this.

"Except for Homsi and Eldass, everyone out of the room." TazirVile said while motioning for everyone to leave. After everyone did as they were told, he eyed the two men who remained in the room. "Between the two of you, tell me what happened on the twentieth, and why I wasn't told about it sooner than now."

Eldass gave his younger co-worker a passing, unconscious glance; he saw that Homsi was contemplating the issue on juicing the story that he was to tell up a bit and, while a little unnerved by this, he knew that he wouldn't do so. While Homsi was known to spin a lie here and there he was also known to be a right truthful guy and to keep certain stories as-was. It didn't matter if they could get their "competition" fired or demoted to being a normal employee—he had plans to stick to the facts right before opening his mouth.

The smile, that wanted to bubble to the surface, was fought and quite well after Homsi started the tale on what happened; his friend and co-worker started relaying all that happened from the beginning—from when their employer walked his family out to the awaiting, and relatively newly purchased, vehicle that was parked before the house.

 _"I want you six to have a good outing, and to not worry a lick about what's going on here or about what I'm to do for the next week." the man said after leading the members of his family to the parked Caddy-Lyca limo._

 _The priest had been called, and was expected to be at the house in less than twenty minutes; even after all that occurred that morning, he hadn't had a chance to pack a suitcase or even to brief his staff on what they were to do during his presumed week of absence. With the riots on Ssaavoo and Axalwen being what they were, and with everything being in such upheaval on the two planets, and starting to grow hairy on the two other planets that were also experiencing riots, he couldn't stay home or deal with their issues while being in his office or behind his desk. Seeing as he couldn't be with his family during the outing, and was to be a no-show for the next four to seven days, he had appointed some of his employees who were in his security detail to look after them and to help them during times where stress would or might be encountered._

 _After tracking his family down, then gathering them around himself, then leading them to his office, he had introduced Luad Zaanzak, Ahggen Negol, and Tautal Evaunoo to them. The three men were very pleasant, and knew their jobs well, and had assured him of their looking after his family; he felt very safe with putting the care of his family in their, and in the rest of his and his wife's Circle's, hands._

 _Hazaar had slept for thirty minutes after he left the Pet Room then, after leaving the room, and going to his own room, he had slept for around three hours before getting up. His arms were checked, cleaned of any infections that were noted as being present on them, then re-wrapped right after he woke up. While leading his family to the two cars, he found that his secondborn son was being rather mouthy towards them for their action of "holding hands in public" and for "being affectionate in public". He couldn't help but laugh at the boy; Temperamental phase or not, and being a hot-head or not, Hazaar had his moments where he was outrageous._

 _"Alright now, everyone in." he said after opening the door to the limo and then gesturing for everyone to get in. His sons hesitated while his wife and daughter were quick in getting into the car that was before the one that was owned by Tautal Evaunoo. "Boys, come on now. Time to go."_

 _The boys looked at one another, then shrugged their shoulders before getting into the car. After speaking his I-Love-You's, then closing the door, he turned to acknowledge the men who were to accompany his family. Last minute instructions were given before he motioned for them to get into the cars; Eldass, Homsi, Koftu, and Zshon got into the car that his family was in while the rest of the men got into the other one._

 _When they were off on their adventure, he remained where he was; a sense of dread flowed through him all while he was waving goodbye to them, and a good chill ran down his spine after he saw them as going through the gate. After ten seconds, he shrugged this feeling off then turned to go back into the house. He was to stay in the house while the priest blessed it then he was to go right for Ssaavoo—the saying said that a conqueror's job was never done and, for him, that was very true._

 _"So... Mr. Modulavich," Angel said after Homsi drove the vehicle out of the property and then down the road. "You planning on driving for a little while or are you teleporting us to our destination right away?"_

 _"A little drive, to see the scenery and get in some fresh air, will be done before I teleport us to Apalix City." Homsi replied politely._

 _"Look forward to that!" Eshal, who had the window seat of one of the limo's seats, said._

 _"Monsieur Modulavich, must you make that decision? In order to beat the crowds, we should get there faster." Koftu Bojus said._

 _"Think you, like the rest of us, know that malls are always crowded—doesn't matter what time it is... they're always crowded with people."_

 _"How is Madame Angel in crowds? Do you know how her kids are in public? It's best that we get there at a faster pace than what we are, Homsi." Koftu Bojus went on._

 _"My boys are very well behaved in public," Angel said. "Homsi, if it's too much trouble to drive to Apalix City, you can teleport us now."_

 _"No trouble at all, My Mistress." Homsi responded. What he said next only Eldass heard; with his sitting beside his co-worker, he had front-row seats to whatever he said under his breath. "Why don't you shut up and let me handle things, Mr. Bojus? We don't need your pushiness today."_

 _To pass the time, Angel asked to use Eldass's cellular. She conversed with Luad, Ahggen, and Tautal for a bit—getting to know them, and gaining a little bit of assurance on their being appropriate for the job given to them—before giving the phone back to its owner. In her opinion, Luad Zaanzek was a rather nice man; along with having a rather squeaky, mellow voice, and quiet demeanor, he had no issue in speaking with her or on answering her questions. Ahggen Negol, a very big Goblin, who stood five foot, two inches tall, and who had dark green skin and eyes and very dark brown hair that was cropped rather short, sounded a little on the bi or gay side, but she didn't mind that; he, too, was nice and had no issue in answering her questions or in talking to her. Tautal Evaunoo, a lean-bodied Goblin who had light purple skin, dark brown eyes, and who stood nearly five feet tall, had a thick accent to his tough-sounding voice but even he was nice. After speaking to the three men, she turned her attention to the one who was sitting across from her._

 _"So, what's your name?" she asked. The man did nothing but give her a cold and forboding stare. After a few seconds passed, she asked him the same question; in all, it took her two more times before he spoke to her._

 _"Koftu Bojus." the man said in a snappy, snob-like manner. He said something behind that which she didn't catch—Zshon sure caught it though; Mr. Zultoa was fast in turning on the man, and in talking to him in a language that she couldn't understand._

 _Seeing as Mr. Bojus seemed very reluctant to talk to her, she stopped trying to pass the time away by getting to know the four who were with her and her children that she didn't know. In all, it took five minutes before Lhaklar moved in his seat; he reached into his front left pants pocket, then removed something that was silver, and bracelet-like in appearance. Zshon's attention was automatically drawn to the item that her son had in his hand._

 _"Sir, what is that?" Zshon asked._

 _"A music ring," Lhaklar replied. "You put it around your wrist then press the button that's on its top. The music, that you've downloaded on it, is played afterwards. It has two, small speakers built into it that can be removed and then used as headphones."_

 _"You shouldn't of brought that with you, sir." Koftu said. "You will lose it."_

 _"No won't." Lhaklar returned._

 _"Sir, it'll fall from one of your pockets—it's one of them things that'll tie us up." Koftu insisted._

 _"It won't fall out of my pocket." Lhaklar said. The structure of his voice said one thing, which his mother was fast in detecting—he was annoyed._

 _"Mr. Bojus, leave my son be. Lhakie, you listen to your music." Angel said to them. A clicking sound, that came from the man across from her, was heard; while she didn't know what was said, or if anything was said, she had a feeling that a sort of derogatory word had just been used in reference to her. This caused her to feel uneasy about the man._

 _Zshon nodded his head after being told what the item that the oldest of his employer's biological sons had on him and about what his employer's wife had said to Koftu; Koftu, to him, was already getting on his nerves. Along with calling their employer's wife a Cunt, he, just now, had called her a Bitch, which was very uncalled for—she was being very nice and polite with the man and he was regarding her in this way? He had a feeling that the afternoon was going to be a long one for him and for everyone in their group._

 _Young Master Lhaklar started listening to his music; Miss. Eshal, and Hazaar, looked out the window; Young Master Bile, who was sitting on the other side of Koftu, did nothing but stare at his mother; and Young Master Lazeer, who was sitting beside him, took out a small book, which looked to revolve around jokes, from his back pants pocket then started reading it. Mistress Angel divided her time between looking at Koftu and looking out the window. Everyone was quiet, peaceful, and to themselves for all of fifteen minutes before Koftu spoke._

 _"Fifteen minutes of driving should be enough, Homsi. Teleport us. Now!"_

 _"Bug off, Koftu."_

 _"Pick up the pace, Modulavich!"_

 _"Don't spit in this car, Bojus!" Homsi barked._

 _After another fifteen minutes passed, Homsi teleported the car; the one behind them did the same thing a few seconds later. In all, it took Homsi ten minutes to find a building to park in and then to "guide" Tautal to where they were parked at. When everyone was out of the two cars, and when the two cars were locked up tight, Homsi went over to his employer's wife then took her to the side for a chat._

 _"Mistress," Homsi said after getting her alone. While everyone was busy in working their kinks out from their muscles and bones, he reached into his tuxedo jacket for the envelope that he had been given that morning. "Once we get moving, I want you and your children to stay in the center of us—my co-workers and I are to form a circle around you six, and I'm to lead you to Calalron Mall. You and your children are not to leave our circle while we're moving, okay? When you and your children are shopping, we'll divide ourselves so that each of you has one or more of us accompanying you—only when you're using the bathroom, or are in the changing room, are you to be left alone, okay?"_

 _"Gotcha, but do us a favor in not pushing us around but so much." Angel responded._

 _"Course not. Only when it's absolutely necessary will we do that—when your safety's in jeopardy, or when people that aren't desired to be around you are nearby, and won't go away, will be be a bit pushy." Homsi relayed. He gave the envelope to his Mistress then he led her back to the group._

 _The envelope contained $1800; she split that evenly between herself and her children before relaying all that Homsi had told her. After telling them what Homsi had told her, she heard the word for everyone to form around them. For some reason, the men who formed a circle around them started checking their belts and coats right after the circle was formed._

 _Most of the men had two phones, in conveniently placed holsters, on their belts; Eldass had a small, portable weather radio, which looked to be quite handy and expensive, on him. It looked like everyone had a sort of hoverboard on them too. After everyone checked their belts, the eyes of the group turned to Koftu, who was being a bit slow in doing as everyone else was. After everyone's eyes were turned on him, a gasp was heard._

 _Luad, Ahggen, and Tautal were bodyguards, and, according to her husband, so was Koftu; what she saw took her breath away. She had never seen such gear on a person before and she bet that her sons, and most of the men in their group, hadn't either._

 _The Burst Laser pistol, an all-silver gun that had a thin, light blue stripe on its side; a Kel-Tech pistol, that shot silver bullets that were laced with an agent that made one grow dizzy or disoriented; a normal pistol, that fired normal bullets; a knife, that had a wooden handle and a five-inch blade on it; and a stun gun was what the man had on his belt. The two cellular phones were normal while everything else wasn't—while Luad, Ahggen, and Tautal had a gun and a knife on their belts, they didn't look abnormal; she became even more uneasy after seeing the excess weaponry that was on Mr. Bojus._

 _"Suited up well for the occasion... a bit too well, if you ask me." she thought after seeing all of what Koftu had on him._

 _After Koftu was done in checking his belt, and its numerous items, they started off. Homsi did as he had said he would in leading them while everyone else stayed firm around them._

"Koftu had all of that on his belt? Both of you saw it, or was it just one of you?" TazirVile asked after hearing what he did. After hearing the list of items, that were on Koftu's belt on the day of his family's outing, he sat upright then swallowed hard.

"Yessir, both of us." Eldass responded.

"Mr. Bojus is one of my bodyguards so I guess—" TazirVile stopped; he reached into his striped, dark blue tuxedo jacket then removed his cellular. With the stylus, he typed out Exasivoor Chente's work number then waited. Only when his call was answered did he speak. "Mr. Chente, you checked Mr. Bojus on the day of the twentieth, right?... What weaponry did he carry on his person on that day?... Uh-huh... Mhmm... So, just a gun and two cellular phones?... Did he have a knife on him?... The gun that you saw, was it a Burst Laser or a... It was a Kel-Tech?... Uh-huh, just a Kel-Tech and two cellular phones?... Thank you, Mr. Chente."

Eldass winced after the look, that spread across his employer's face, was seen; Master Tazir was raging, and it was being expressed towards one man and one man only. Mr. Bojus, it was quite apparent, had been caught as having fewer weapons on his person during Mr. Chente's check of him than when he had been outside of the mansion—when the man entered the Pet Room, he neither left it nor made as to leave it, so he had either hid his extra weapons by using a spell or had hid them somewhere in the house.

His employer said nothing for a few minutes; he swallowed a few times, then cleared his throat once or twice, before waving his hand. The signal was given for Homsi to go on in telling him the rest of the events that happened on the twentieth of January.

"Eldass," Homsi said to his co-worker. His co-worker was fast in turning to look at him. "You take it from here."

In all, it had taken him just five minutes to tell half the tale of what happened on that dark day; he was exhausted, nonetheless of the time spent telling what he had. If he found himself as retaining his job, he'd rest later.

Though the intent in his telling his employer the excess weaponry that Koftu had had on his belt was purely innocent he was hoping that his honest and very innocent move did something to cause the man, who was a serious thorn in his side, to either be demoted or fired from the job. The house, and the ones who both lived and worked in it, would benefit without him being around to "brighten" their lives.

Unlike Eldass, who had simply listened as he told the events of what happened on that day, he had relived it from its start to finish. He was quite sure that the "reliving" part, for his friend and co-worker, was about to begin as he took the torch to telling the rest of what happened on January 20.

" _Anyone have to use the bathroom before we do anything in the building?" Angel asked after she, her children, and the Goblins reached their destination. Eldass was fast in taking one of the store's conveniently placed pamphlets up from where it was and then giving it to her. "Thank you, Eldass."_

 _"Madame, everyone should of used the bathroom before leaving the house." Koftu Bojus said._

 _"We've been sitting in a car for a while, and I don't think me or any of my sons have used the bathroom since we ate breakfast." Angel returned._

 _"Should of used it a long time ago, Ma'am."_

 _"Koftu, down now." Eldass said. While what he said was said in a calm way, he was rather annoyed, and growing a little angry. "As a matter of fact, Mistress, I do require a quick bathroom trip."_

 _"Same here," Eshal said._

 _"Ditto," Bile said._

 _Another pamphlet was taken from its slot and then looked at; he found where the nearest bathroom was then led his group to it. He, Kohl, Luad, Miss. Eshal, and Young Master Bile used what was available for the building's patrons to use before leaving and then going to where the rest of their group was; Mistress Angel retrieved several of the pamphlets herself then said that, while they were to have sessions where they'd be allowed to shop in a "solo" way they were also to spend seventy-five percent as a group. The children, after giving their heads a nod, went to look at the pamphlets after hearing how the outing was to be handled—while Koftu was quiet about their staying together as a group he was very vocal about the children being allowed to go off on their own; it took both he and Homsi to reel the man in. After Koftu was reeled in, Mistress Angel said for her daughter to pick the first store for them to visit._

 _Miss. Eshal, after a few seconds of studying the pamphlet, picked Shejni's, which was a store where nothing but feminine clothes was sold at. Everyone went to the store, which was nearby, then waited as she browsed that various items that were on its shelves and then made her purchases. When they left the store, Miss. Eshal had a single bag, that had two dresses in it, on her person._

 _Young Master Bile was told to pick the next store that they'd visit, then his brothers, in order of age, were given the reins in making the decision on where they were to go. When all of the children had shopped in their first store, and had a bag or two on their persons, it was decided that they'd "split up"—while Mistress Angel, and her youngest son and daughter remained with Homsi and Koftu, the rest of the group went their separate ways. The Young Masters were gone for all of fifteen or twenty minutes before returning; as expected, they had two to three new bags on their persons. After the boys returned, Mistress Angel decided to go off on her own—she took him with her, so her solo trip wasn't really solo._

 _They were gone for all of twenty-five minutes; when they returned to the group, his Mistress had three bags in each of her hands. Clafor's, a store where nothing but perfumes were sold, was where they went first; Siklu's, a store where nothing but feminine recreational clothing was sold, had been their next stop; Aolaka's Collectors, a store where nothing but model kits and other buildable items were sold, was where they went to next; and then Doshe's Jems, a store where nothing but jewelry was sold, was their last stop. Of the four stores that they went to, his Mistress spend the most in Aolaka's Collectors and Doshe's Jems—Young Master Lazeer's birthday was coming up, so she had done some shopping for him for that occasion; the rest of her shopping had been done with her interests in mind._

 _After doing nothing more than walking around, taking in the sights and smells, and doing their best to ignore Koftu's increasingly annoying antics, Mistress Angel decided to put the shopping to a temporary stop for lunch. After spending ten minutes of looking for a place to sit and enjoy a meal at, they found a small area where there were some tables and chairs; after taking a seat, then getting their bags arranged, their Mistress asked them which of the area's available restaurants they should order from—Kohl was the one who suggested that they place an order with Ne'Flav Pizzaria, a restaurant where just about any sort of pizza was made and then placed for order._

 _"You fine gents wish to join my children and I for pizza?" the lovely, and very generous, woman asked._

 _"I believe we can deal with ourselves just fine, Madame." Koftu said in a rude tone of voice._

 _"Mistress, we appreciate your offer." Eldass replied. He eyed Koftu hostily before going on. "We would be honored to j—"_

 _"Ma'am, the money that Master Tazir gave to you and your children is meant for your and their use. Not for us." Koftu interrupted Eldass. "We can deal with our lunch period just fine without any assistance from you."_

 _"What!" Kohl Zolwin exclaimed. "Mistress, don't listen to that fool! We're honored to be given your offer."_

 _"As do I." Luad Zaanzek said._

 _Koftu was fast in pouncing on them; he said that they needn't let their employer's wife "pamper" them, or offering them the option of a meal, and he also said that she needed to concentrate on herself and her children's needs over theirs. Kohl and Zshon were the loudest of them when it came to fighting the man while Homsi and, rather surprisingly, Tautal were the next loudest in the bunch. Seeing as fighting wasn't ideal for his employer's family to be seeing, or becoming involved in, he led Mistress Angel, and her children, to a different table, that was a distance from where the fighting was, then went off to the restaurant for one of its menus. Upon his return, he saw that the fighting was over and that everyone had taken a seat at one of the tables—Zshon and Homsi were seated at one table; Tautal, Losal, and Ahggen were at another; Kalach and Kohl were seating at the one that was to the right of the one that their employer's family was at; and Luad and Koftu were seated at the one that was before theirs. When he returned, he gave the menus out then went to sit at the table that Zshon and Homsi were at._

 _Young Master Bile ordered a pepperoni explosion, a pizza that had more than three times the amount of pepperoni's on it; Young Master Lhaklar ordered a cheese and sausage pizza; Young Master Hazaar ordered a triple cheese pizza; and Young Master Lazeer ordered an onion and chili bomb pizza. Miss Eshal was the only one of the family to order a plain cheese pizza while her mother placed an order for a pizza that had olives and Mozzarella cheese on it._

 _Except for Koftu, who claimed that he wasn't hungry, the rest of them made their various orders on what they'd like to eat; the orders were taken to the restaurant, then were placed, then were paid and then picked up, and then were taken to the ones that had ordered them._

 _They ate around a quarter of what they had ordered before the outing went sour._

"The papers got it wrong on how many reporters were seen before we got up to leave the area. In three papers, it says that four news reporters, and photographers, were seen as approaching us when it was really only one." Eldass continued.

 _Ahggen Negol, after seeing the man coming towards them, and after seeing that he had a camera in his hand, got up to intercept him. There was no fight or fuss expressed between the two; they just spoke to one another before Ahggen escorted him from the area. The Young Masters, while looking nervous about what was going on, continued with the chore of eating their pizzas while their mother and sister didn't look to be fazed by what was going on. After Ahggen returned to the area, they went on in eating their meal—when more people, with either cameras or microphones in hand, appeared, it was decided that, for the best interest of their employer's family, who looked to be growing a little antsy over having the area nearly surrounded by people, they should get up and then leave._

 _After the bags were retrieved, and then everyone was accounted for, he started leading them from the area; with the reporters and photographers yelling, and either trying to gain their attention or getting their attention, they weren't able to keep what was to happen next from happening._

 _He nearly had them out of the area when one of the reporters charged into their circle._

"And that's when everything happened." Eldass went on. "Ahggen and Luad left the group, to make the the news reporters and photographers back off, while we formed as tight a circle as we could around your wife and children. After Ahggen and Luad left the group, Koftu stepped behind your youngest son then gave him a shove."

Homsi's heart skipped a beat as his co-worker came close to being in the homestretch; as Eldass had said, the newspapers had gotten it wrong on how many news reporters and photographers were there and it had also gotten it wrong on some of the events that happened between Koftu and the woman who was married to his employer.

After being shoved from the group, two news reporters had grabbed and then thrown Lazeer to the wall; while trying to return to the group, and keep his cool, the reporters had badgered him with questions and the photographers had taken picture after picture of him. Mistress Angel was a frantic mess after her son was separated from her, and after she saw what was happening to him—instead of simply calling out to him, and staying with the group, she had made the motion to leave it and go to her son.

Koftu, instead of letting her pass, had grabbed her by the wrist and then yanked her back; after she tried to leave the group again, he grabbed and then shoved her. A shove-for-shove thing happened between the two of them before the woman's fist was thrown. Mistress Angel, after slugging her fist into Koftu's shoulder, had found herself having to fight him—the two exchanged blows for all of ten seconds, with most of their employer's wife's going to Koftu's shoulders and face and with Koftu's going towards her hips and chest, before Mistress Angel gave a growl-like sound; the fist to the gut, then the fierce shove, that she gave the man had done the trick in getting him to back off and for her to be free in going to her son. When she left the circle that was formed around her and most of her children, he and Eldass, Losal, Kalach, Zshon, Kohl, and Tautal had closed in closer to the family and then watched as she made her progress—the gasp, that came from them, had been loud enough to attract the ones that were in the Heavens; Mistress Angel had only gone two steps from the group when Koftu rushed towards her and then kicked his leg up.

She went sprawling to the floor; after doing a turn on the floor, she got up then continued on towards her son. He wasn't totally aware of what happened next because he had been having a moment—the Young Masters were in their tight circle one second and then were rushing towards their mother and younger brother the next; Miss. Eshal had tried to go with them but had been barred at the last second from doing so.

After reaching the throng of people, who were surrounding her son, she gave a single warning before going to business in being violent with them. Some of the people stepped away willingly while others had turned their cameras and microphones towards her—a total of five people had been swung at, so the papers had probably gotten it wrong on how many broken noses were gained on that day, and two people had been kicked at too. The one who trained his camera on her, then had the nerve of grabbing her by the arm, had been knocked out cold by her swing—and his camera had also been destroyed too.

In total, there had been around twelve or so people with cameras and microphones milling around Lazeer; if there had been less around him, or less people causing everyone in the group grief, the event that happened on that day would never of happened. Miss. Eshal had been spoken or written of none—the papers, and news stations, were just concentrating on her mother and brothers.

" 'Mam! Mam, mam!' "

" 'Mistress Angel!' "

" 'Mam!' "

With Eshal yelling in the way she was, he had gone partially deaf in his right ear for all of twelve hours before the ability to hear returned; like the papers said, Mistress Angel had caused one of the reporters to receive a broken arm—and, like Niiwa Sayklon said, he had deserved what he had gotten. He did nothing but stand before the woman; his arm was raised, and he told her to back off, which she refused to do. After the man followed her, all while holding his arm out to her, and then took a step towards her young son, who looked to be elated and patiently waiting for her to get to him, she reacted by jumping at him. The arm, being in her way, was snapped. After she, and her three sons, reached Lazeer, she hugged him; she looked to be about to return to the group when Koftu was noticed as going towards them. With her former altercation with the man being known, and probably being played back in her memory banks, she turned and then ran off with all four of her sons following behind her.

"She saw Koftu as a threat..." TazirVile said. "Is that what you're telling me—that Koftu was perceived as a threat?"

"Yessir. She saw him coming then decided to run off." Eldass replied.

"What happened next?" TazirVile asked.

"The photographers and news reporters left the area. I told Tautal to take Miss. Eshal home then I said for us to split up and then find her and the boys." Homsi answered.

"We wanted to find her fast, sir, so we broke into groups of two to do so."

"Er, well except for Mr. Bojus. He went off on his own to find them." Eldass started chuckling after saying this. "And it just so figures that he was the one who found them."

"It was a long search, that took up most of the afternoon. At around the time that the spheres were setting, we received word from Luad and Ahggen on their whereabouts—while they found them, they were chased off. Your wife was pretty upset after seeing them and decided to keep them at a distance. When we found out where they were, we went to their location as fast as we could." Homsi said.

"It was Homsi who got her to calm down. He said for us sit and wait it out for a bit—so she would calm down, sir. After twenty minutes passed, he got up then went to her. It was he who led her, and her sons, from under the tree and it was he who teleported them home." Eldass said.

With their employer being so busy on Axalwen and Ssaavoo, he hadn't been able to read any newspapers or watch any of the news; with all that happened between January 20 and yesterday, they hadn't been able to place a call or send a text to him, telling him what happened and giving him a possible warning about how "changed" his wife and sons were after what they experienced.

Young Master Bile and Lhaklar had refused to leave the level that their rooms were on; Young Master Hazaar refused to have anyone near him; and Young Master Lazeer, for five straight days, had refused to leave his mother's side. Hazaar had done more than mouth off at anyone who dared to come near him, and he was refusing to eat in the dining room, and Lazeer just about broke out in the shivers after any sort of sound occurred behind him. Bile and Lhaklar, while looking to be coming around, weren't yet over what they had experienced on the twentieth of January. Most everyone in the mansion was giving them a wide, and quite respectful, berth while there were a few who were downright against giving them the respect and space that they needed to get over what they went through.

Really, after escorting the family into the house, then up to the house's second level, it hadn't surprised them that they locked themselves in a room and then stayed there for nearly all of the rest of that day. Except for Duru and Cyla, Kuruk and Dara Dara, and Master Vile, everyone had gone on with the day as if nothing happened.

They told all of this to their employer then snapped their mouths shut; what was to happen next was totally up to the man who they worked for.

"Thank you, gentlemen, it's been—"

TazirVile paused for a second; Homsi and Eldass became almost like stone before him. Where they about to be fired? Was the conclusion to what their employer was about to say, but that had stopped saying, going to be a pleasure having you work for me but I think your time's up? Homsi gave Eldass a look; his friend and co-worker had just as much as he on the line right now. Eldass had just learned that his wife was pregnant; while the house that the Zultoa family lived in was paid for, he had spoken about going out to get a loan so he could build onto it. If he was fired, he'd be shunned by their society and he would also not be able to do as he had planned with the house and, thanks to their having the Zultoa surname, his family would also be shunned and, quite possibly, have to split up from the constant stress that was put on them thanks to their being shunned by their society.

Homsi's stomach fluttered a few times before settling down; if it had gone cold, he would of known that something bad was coming. Some people knew when bad things were coming, or were around the corner—he was one of them people and, sometimes, he did relish and detest it.

"Mr. Modulavich, you can head yourself down to the house's larger kitchen—Mr. Volvio, I do believe, needs a hand with the dishes. There's a lot, so you'll be busy for a while. Do the kitchen floors, and then the floors on the first level, afterwards. Tell Mr. Khrelan that he is to bring me the mail that's accumilated since my absence." TazirVile said before turning his gaze towards Eldass. "Mr. Zultoa, my wife is said to be in the Red Room; you're to be her personal shadow for the day. Tell Zshon that he's to head down to the pier—he's to check for issues with it and then repair all that he sees. Luad, Tautal, and Ahggen are to go with him. Best tell Mr. Zolwin and Mr. Speelin that they're to go to the boathouse while you're headed to the Red Room—they're to run a check on everything, to see if its in good shape and can last against what it was purchased for."

"Yessir." Eldass said. He suppressed the relieved gasp that he wanted to emit; he could well of been fired but, instead, he was retaining his job.

He and his co-worker bowed then turned to leave the room. Before they had chance to open the door, then go out into the hallway, their employer's throat was cleared. After hearing that sound, they stopped then turned around.

"Mr. Modulavich, will you be so kind as to tell Mr. Bojus that he is to report to me at once. I do believe we need to have a little chat." TazirVile said. Homsi came close to smiling from ear-to-ear; he had a feeling that a certain someone named Koftu Bojus was about to be given the pink-slip of doom.


	36. Chapter 36

The fact of his not being dismissed of his job almost overshadowed the one of his being given a slap on the wrist and then a "punishment"; all while going down the second level's hallway, and then down the stairwell that wound around the foyer's left side, he thought none on where he was going or on what he might or might not see after getting there. It was only when he was on his way down the foyer's hallway that he stopped and then realized where he was going—did he hear his employer correctly? That he wasn't only to go to the Red Room but that he was also to be his wife's shadow for the day?

He had seen nothing of any of his employer's sons that day; what were they doing and where were they? Were their activities the same as they had been over the last six days or were they in the house somewhere, conducting activities that they had ceased in doing after the events of that ill-fated January 20 occurred? Miss. Eshal, he figured, was either in the gym, library, or outside. He knew where his employer's wife was said to be—was she really in that location or was she somewhere else?

Eldass shook his head; he figured that Koftu Bojus was getting his dues about now, and that his employer was probably getting very "red" in the face—due to nothing being heard from the level that he was on, he guessed that the Silencer spell had been used in his employer's office. In a way, he did and didn't want to know what was going on with Koftu.

Homsi went past him; he, who looked so calm and cool, looked to be planning to do as he had been told to do. While on the way to the house's bigger kitchen, the man stopped to give Losal the word on his needing to take the five burlap bags, that were by the front door, to their employer. Seeing as he had been told to relay word to his son, and to Tautal and Ahggen, about their "punishments", he tracked the three down then gave them the word on what they needed to do.

As he saw it, the punishments given to the nine of them were low to mediocre in detail—while he was acceptive of his given chore he was also slightly embarrassed by his having to go to the area where it was to begin at. He considered going to the house's bar for a second—he had a flask on him, which was empty and which could well be filled or halfway filled with some beverage that'd cause his nerves to settle—before swallowing his pride and then continuing down the hall.

"The Red Room... it use to be a plain, empty room that sat beside the house's pool area." he thought while going down the hall.

Mistress Angel, after being given the rooms that she was to redesign and decorate, had picked wisely the ones that she wanted to work on first. The Pet Room had been the first that she had done while the Flower Room, that was on the house's fourth floor, was the second; after the construction on them two rooms was done, she spent a week in resting up before going on to do the one that he was headed towards. Unlike the Pet Room, where she had done around half of the work in, and the Flower Room, where she had done all of the work in, she had been required to call in and then let the interior decorators work on the one that was beside the pool area. Before being worked on, it had just had a granite marble floor in it; the paneling on the walls had been honey maple wood while the ceiling had been a simple dark gold color—all of this was gone now.

At the time that the room's plans were being drawn up, his Mistress had envisioned the room as being a sort of spa—a place where people could go to relax and relieve themselves of their stresses. Boy had it become that... and more!

The room had a series of pools in it; the first was in the top left corner—even though it was small, it had a waterfall behind it. Mistress Angel had envisioned the water in this pool being red and that was what it was—the system behind the waterfall was state-of-the-art and the stones that the water rolled down were real. The pool, that was between the small one and the room's far right corner, was large and had several waterfalls falling into it; the water in this pool was a deep violet color, and it was always bubbly. A sauna, that was placed to the far left of the room, was set-up for one who wanted a turn with the "steam"; the two tables, that had a soft foam top to them, completed the room's decor. One of the tables was for plain massages while the other was for the treatment that one got from the use of them special heated rocks that were frequently used in the real-deal spas—he still didn't know the true purpose for them rocks; word of mouth said that they had special properties, that took away stress, pressure, and certain pains, while others said that they were nothing fancy.

Before the room's construction was complete, Mistress Angel had had a bout of genius—a portion of the newly installed, pebble stone floor was ripped up and then the floor that was under it was "dropped"; a pumping station was applied to what was made before the sides of the hole were filled with slate. Mistress Angel, whenever she wanted to further her relaxation, pressed a button that'd release a bunch of rose petals; the water that was in the room's third pool would be what she wanted it to be whenever she was taking a dip in it—fresh or salt, and always warm to the touch.

Master Tazir, after the room was complete, had been struck with a sort of idea that revolved around gutting the wall that was to the far right of the room and then making that into a sort of secret room that only he and his wife had access to. By way of the pool that the rose petals could be released into, the two could swim into this room and then do whatever they wished while being in it. According to "legend", Young Master Lazeer's conception occurred in that room.

"Either he's a lonely Goblin looking for some tail or he's slacking on the job this mid-afternoon." TrobrencusVile said while he and Eldass walked by one another.

"I fear the things you've done in that man-thong." Eldass replied. A small smile tugged at his lips while he went down the hall; it evaporated a few seconds later, when something hard slammed against the back of his head.

When he wheeled around, he saw that Trobrencus was standing almost directly behind him; he was wearing something akin to a thong, but that was nylon and could be used in the water. The black cane, that had a wolf's head for a handle, was in the process of being returned to the floor when he turned to look at the man. After seeing how close the man was to him, and that he had a sick look of pleasure on his face, then taking in his wardrobe—though not biased by any means, he didn't much like the idea of a man wearing anything that a woman was known to wear—, he turned then went on his way.

Only when he felt that he was a comfortable distance from the man did he stop and then reach his hand up to touch the back of his head. This wasn't the first time that the man had used one of his canes on him—while this was the sixth it was also the only the second time that he had been struck on the head by one of them. After seeing that he wasn't bleeding, and that he was fine, just a little sore and annoyed over being struck, he resumed his trek to the house's pool area.

"Unlike some who are loaded with dough, he didn't go but so crazy with its design." he thought after throwing the two, slide-out mahogany doors to the side then going into the area that he was headed towards.

The room, while being large, wasn't overly dominated in pools. The two pools that were in it were doing well for the ones that they were meant for; the same went for the few, poolside chairs and other items. The smaller, hourglass-shaped pool, that was to the room's far left side, was more for his employer's younger kids; the kiddie toys, that were floating about on the water's surface, or that were resting on the pool's bottom, hadn't been played with in a long time. The bigger, longer pool, that stretched from the room's northern wall to nearly the doors, was for the bigger kids and adults; it had three diving boards and a long, S-shaped slide to it. The blue Mosaic, dew drop-pattern tile, that was on the floor and sides of the pools, contrasted rather well with the rustic brown/rocky gray floor, that was acid stained and made of glossed concrete, that was in the room. The walls and ceiling matched the room's floor almost perfectly.

The set of doors, that were to the room's far right side, and that looked similar to the ones that opened in on the pool area, belonged to the changing room; the only difference that was present to them was the silver T and S that were styled on them.

At the moment, there were seven people in the room. Young Master Bile, who was wearing a pair of deep red swimming trunks, was doing a jump from one of the diving boards; Lhaklar was edging his way towards Lazeer, who was rough-housing with Hazaar—either one or the both of them was about to be grabbed and then thrown into the pool. Miss. Eshal was sitting on one of the room's lounge chairs. Bohir and Trivit were on the pool's opposite side; they were doing as Hazaar and Lazeer were in rough-housing one another—he got the distinct feeling that Trobrencus had either been involved with them and their activity or, judging by how he was an adult, just using the diving board before deciding to leave the pool, towel off, then go don some regular-day clothes.

He said nothing after entering the room; while taking in the room's decor and design, he walked around the bigger pool—all while going around this pool, he paid special attention to the kids, and to the water that they were splashing. The last thing he wanted was for him to become a pawn to the kids' playful antics, or be splashed on. After rounding the pool, he went for the dark red door that was at its front-end. Once he was before the door, he took a deep breath in then grasped its knob; one twist, then a push, did the trick for it to open. He was quick in going into the room after its door was open.

"A man can't even go off to do his job without worrying about you running off!"

Eldass was fast in stopping after entering the room; he had expected to see just one person as being the room's occupant—instead, he was finding that there were two in it. It took him a simple second to realize that the two were father and daughter, and not just any father and daughter either—they were Master Vile and his employer's wife. It took another second before he saw that the two were fighting about something.

"What was you expecting for me to do? There was a group of people surrounding one of my children, and scaring him half to death, and I was being prevented from going to him." Angel replied to what was said. "Was I suppose to stand around and see all of what happened go on? Lazeer was screaming and crying for me... he was sc—"

"Leave him there. Let him learn how to behave around them types of people." Master Vile returned.

"Abandon a child of mine who—"

"Yes, that's how you do it. That's how kids learn."

"You sick bastard! You don't abandon a child, and especially not a scared one at that!" Angel snapped.

"Hold your tongue, Angel. I didn't say full abandonment, I said abandon—"

"Yes, you did. You said that for a child to learn a parent has to abandon it." Angel said with a sniff.

"I did not, and you're trying to push me off the subject on what you and your sons did a couple of days ago." Master Vile spoke with a hint of a growl in his voice.

" _You_ veered us off the subject with your 'oh, you just abandon a child who's in distress' bullshit." Angel remarked.

It took them all of a minute to realize that someone had just come into the room; Angel, when she saw Eldass, calmed down while her father merely squinted at him before going on with what he was doing. Angel sighed after the man continued with his berating. She had no more entered the room, then gotten herself undressed, before the man barged in; at the time of her going to the house's pool area, she hadn't seen him there. It had just been Trobrencus and his two sons, Trivit and Bohir, and her sons in the room—Trobrencus had been using the diving board while his sons were either rough-housing one another or were "pulling" Bile into their play. Lhaklar had simply been swimming in the water while Hazaar and Lazeer were taking to the slide, and having a blast while doing so.

After downing her clothes, then grabbing a towel, and then a robe, from one of the room's stationed lockers, she went to the pool that had the mechanism that the flower petals were kept in. The robe had no more been removed from her, and she had no more started getting into the water, when her father came in.

She had come to be very stressed out over the last five days; with her stresses being what they were, the decision to use the Spa Room—or Red Room, as her husband kept calling it—had seemed to be a good one. Hazaar, just four days ago, had dropped a nice bomb on her lap by telling her about the dreams that he had experienced and about what happened after he woke from the final one—she, while being unnerved by what he had told her, had felt sorry for both him and for the one that he had seen.

Trobrencus, on the day that followed the event of her being choked by her amulet, had asked for her and her sons to see him in the dining room. After reaching that room, they had found him waiting with his book and with a small to medium-sized flask of water—along with having individual prayer sessions done on them, he had sprinkled them with the water that was in the flask. When all of what he was doing to them was over, he had stepped back and then said that they had a new protection on them that was better than the original one. Going by what her son had told her, it was probably this that had caused their line of connectibility to the dark guy to break.

This, coupled by Hazaar's anxiety over what he saw in his dreams, and what he experienced after waking up, and then learning that each of his brothers had had one or more encounters with the same guy, and the boys' constant nightmares on what happened in the mall, had made for her to miss out on some sleep. She had worried, and a great deal too, about them.

Her attempt at relaxation, and to get things a little straight in her mind and conscious, had been stolen from her by her father, which just pissed her off. What had he done? Slam the door open, then walk in wearing nothing more than a pair of black, baggy swimming trunks, and then saunter over to her, that's what! After grabbing her, then finding her as pulling herself from him, and then making the move to move away from him, he had started giving her his two-cents on what happened and on what all should of been done when she and her children were at Calalron Mall.

"Wish he'd go away already." she thought of the man.

While she was repulsed by her father's lack of clothing her father was in no way physically unattractive. Why he had latched onto her as a wife was beyond her; he could well of found and then married another female but, instead, he had picked her. Her father's body was bi-colored, and was colored exactly like that of the sides of his head; while the left side of his body had flesh on it the right side was skeletal in appearance. He had a lot of muscle on his left side while, on his other side, he had none—but this didn't mean that this side of his body wasn't as strong as the other. His waist was slender; it tapered down in a V-shape. The seat of his swimming trunks was loose at the moment but, if at any time he got "excited", she knew it'd grow very bulgey—the man was the picture of health all over and yet, instead of looking for, finding, and then marrying someone unrelated to him, here he was... busting moves, trying to flirt, and driving his youngest daughter crazy with his berates.

She let her father speak for a bit before turning to address Eldass.

"Eldass, what is it?" before the Goblin could respond, her father snapped at him.

"Your services are not needed right now. My daughter doesn't need anyone watching after her when she has the likes of me around."

"Disregard that, Eldass. He was just leaving." Angel said.

"Pardon me? I was not!"

"What is it that you came here for, Eldass?" Angel asked again.

"Mistress, I've been given the order to be your shadow for the day." Eldass replied. He glared at Master Vile before walking forward; he grabbed a hair brush, and then a comb, that was on one of the room's tables while going to where she was.

"That so? Welcome to the room then. My pardons for the Grouch who's also in the room." Angel said. "I don't know when he'll be leaving so just ignore what he says."

"Yes, My Mistress." Eldass replied.

While Eldass went to where his employer's wife was, then started in on brushing, and then combing, her hair, Master Vile voiced how ridiculous it was for his uncle to be placing people in his service as his daughter's "shadows". The man claimed that, since he was both Angel's father and husband, and since he was in the room, Eldass wasn't needed to be around; he voiced his opinion on his uncle's order before hearing his daughter telling him to pipe down.

Eldass was careful in running both the brush and then the comb through Angel's hair; the last thing he wanted was to tear her hair from her head or cause her any more grief than what she was already going through. Angel was grateful for his gentle actions—if it had been her father doing her hair, she'd be fast in yelling at him to quit pulling it or being so rough with her. Ubeknown to Eldass, at the time of her arrival to the room, she had been fighting a massive headache, which she was still fighting and which now seemed to be taking on the symptoms known to be exhibited by a migraine.

Eldass, when he came upon a tangle, stopped to untangle it then went on with what he was doing; he did this a total of five times before nodding his head then getting up to put the brush and comb away. When he turned to return to the woman that he was to shadow for the day, he found her as trying to "swim" to the pool's other side—due to her father's action in moving over to where she was going to, her attempt was for nothing.

"Don't suppose you have anything on you that'll down a headache?" she asked him after he returned to her side.

"No, sorry." Eldass replied.

"Have your cellular on you? Can you send a message to Homsi, or to your son for me on one or the other bringing you something that'll knock out a headache?"

"I would, Mistress, but they are very busy right now—Master Tazir gave them a lot of chores to do, which they are doing now." Eldass replied. He gave it a ponder on who he could call before settling on two men who seemed to also be right favoring towards their employer's wife. "How about Abevo, or Ulok, Mistress? They could get you something."

"What's Taz up to?" Angel asked.

"It's Tazzy, or Tazir, not—"

"Probably reading the mail that's come in over the last six days." Eldass answered while Master Vile was in the middle of a rant.

"Do you know how much mail was taken to him? Was it a lot or..." Angel trailed off; she dipped her head down onto the slate edge of the pool that she was in—her head almost felt like it wanted to explode!

"It was a lot, yes." Eldass replied. Seeing as the woman was having a time with her headache, he removed his work-related cellular then started sending a text message to both Abevo and Ulok.

Perhaps it was the fact that he had no one around to keep him company that was making him feel bored and lonely; his brother was nowhere in sight, and he was trying to keep from calling him to see where he was, and the already gone morning had gone by at a snail's pace—judging by how fast the afternoon was going, it looked like that snail's pace thing was to continue for a while. After getting back from having lunch, he had learned that the task of checking into the pantries, that were in both of the house's kitchens, needed to be accessed—with no one looking to be taking the job, he had done so; the two pantries, that were in the smaller kitchen, were good to go while he had only just started doing the two pantries that were in the larger kitchen.

While he was bored, and lonely, he knew that his task was important; there was no need for spoiled food to be lazing around in the pantries, or being consumed by anyone who was in the house—though he wouldn't sweat or break out in a rash if Trobrencus or Duru got a bad case of diarrhea or stomach queasiness after eating something that was spoiled—, and there need not be any shortages on any of the food that was consumed by the family that lived in the house.

The pad, that he was holding, had a few things on it. They were running low on Mac n' Cheese—both the mushroom flavored, the gravy flavored, the plain normal, and the kind that tasted like raw beef—, boxed potatoes—mainly the herb, cheese and garlic, and the plain normal—, noodles—the straight, curvy, and the shelled—and bread. He had yet to check into the available meats, dairy products, and other pantry items; the list was probably going to grow and soon. Right now, he was at the start of the dry pantry—there was a lot of food to look at and make notes on.

Ulision Volvio had been the one cooking the meals for the last six days; Mistress Angel had plain refused to make anything, and her sons were either too caught-up in what happened at the mall or were too-nervous of the ones in the house to indulge in eating much of anything. Despite what that foul Trobrencus said, Ulision was a good chef; he knew more than enough tricks to the trade to keep everyone full and happy.

"And, in order for him to do that, there needs to be good, non-spoiled food in the pantry." Abevo thought while moving over to the next set of shelves.

Of the assortment of canned beans that met his eyes, only two needed restocking. The normal, the pork flavored, the bacon flavored, the onion and mushroom, and the blue beans were good to go while the egg flavored and the plain onion flavored beans were what needed to be restocked—he made a note of this then looked at the next row of canned vegetables. Everything on the next row looked good to go so he moved on to the next, which contained the canned corn. Except for the sugar corn, peppered corn, and sausage-flavored corn, he had to make a note on all that was on this row. He was just moving on to the next shelf when one of his cellular phones went off.

Judging by the vibration, which was going on in the left-side packet of his double holster, he knew that it wasn't one of his family calling him. If it had been either of his parents, they'd of called his regular cellular instead of the work-related one—his mother was particularly picky on calling, yes, but she only did so after he clocked out, and she always called the number to his apartment instead of his regular-day cellular; his father only called his regular-day cellular when an emergency came around. He hardly heard from Bjorglo, his older brother, anymore and that went double for his sisters, who were constantly busy with the kids and their home. It wasn't any of his cousins, or nieces and nephews, or friends either. Could it be Kalach? He usually only called his work-related number when something was needed of him at work; due to their living on the same hallway under their employer's house, the man preferred to make personal visits over calling him.

The cellular, that was nearest the buckle on his belt, was his everyday use phone while the one that was being rang was his work-related one; his old phone, just two weeks ago, had been replaced after one of his young nephews decided to play fetch with it, but the number was still the same. After seeing that it was this phone that was going off, he retrieved it then opened it; it was just his luck that the caller hung up before he had time to ask who it was and what they wanted. He was just muttering a curse when the phone made a jingling sound—either the one who had called had made the decision to send him a text or someone else was trying to get in contact with him.

After opening the phone, he saw that the text had come from Eldass's number; he read what the man sent him after seeing who had sent it.

"Abevo or Ulok, could one or the other of you bring an aspirin or something to the Red Room? Mistress Angel is experiencing a headache, that looks to be a migraine, and needs something for it."

Seeing as the message was sent to two numbers, and that it had both his and Ulok's name on it, and seeing as he had probably answered it after Ulok, who was known to be quite fast in answering his cellular phones, he put his phone back in its slot then resumed his prior task.

The next shelf was pretty bare; it contained all of the tomato, mushroom, and sauce canned goods—seeing as it was nearly a ghost shelf, he wrote a note saying that everything on the shelf needed replenishing. The next two shelves he did the same with before moving on down to where the next set of shelves were.

He checked the boxed pizzas, the cakes, the canned fillings for pies, the pie crusts, the containers of bottled water, and stuffing mixes before moving on to check into the canned soups and fruits, the chilis, the baked beans, the sugar and flour, the extracts and food color dyes, and the cereals before his phone was noted as being rung again. Why did it seem that whenever he was checking the rice, peanut butter, cracker, cookie, and other snack food supplies that his phone decided to go off? It seemed that he was always interrupted from looking into or eating one of them items when his phone went off. With a sigh, he put the pad and pencil down on the shelf that he was looking over then retrieved the item that was ringing—unlike the last time, where he had missed a call, he answered the call placed to him.

"Yes?" he said after answering the call.

"Abevo, I'm a bit busy right now so can you take Mistress Angel something for her headache?" Ulok was fast in saying. Due to the loud bleating calls that he was hearing, he had an idea on where his co-worker was; despite this, he decided to ask him what he was doing.

"What are you doing to make them goats bleat so loudly? I can hear them from my end of the phone, they're that loud!"

"Been asked to chase after, catch, and then separate the billy-kids from the nanny-kids." Ulok relayed. "I'm about to become a betrayer to my gender, Abevo—Master Tazir wants some of the billies castrated today."

"My ears! Oh sheeze, my nuts just receded into my body! I shall never talk to you again!" Abevo exclaimed in mock horror.

"Same here buddy. Tell Mistress Angel hi for me when you see her." Ulok said. Nothing more was said between the two of them; the line went dead after his co-worker hung up then went back to work.

After leaving the pantry, he closed it up tight then went for the door that acted as the entrance/exit of the room; with Homsi being here, helping Ulision with the dishes, he figured that something was either up or he had taken to helping the man in getting the excess dishes washed, dried, and then put away. Regardless of them two possibilities, Homsi didn't look to be all that favoring towards being a dish-man, so his being here, and doing what he was, was a big surprise to him.

While going down the hall, towards the foyer, he thought about the phrase that was used by his employer and the ones in his service that he was close to—Most Trusted Employee, that was what he was hearing from either his employer or from one of the people in his service on a day-in to day-out basis. At one time in the distant past, he hadn't known what that was and, in a few ways, hadn't wanted to know what it was; when Kalach was asked if he'd like to be in their employer's wife's Circle, his curiosity peaked on what the phrase was and on what kind of benefits were given to the ones that were given it. After Kalach said yes to being in Mistress Angel's Circle, he had followed him and then, after getting him alone, had asked him what it was.

Due to Mr. Zultoa walking around the corner, and hearing the question being popped, it had been he who had answered his question on what the phrase was and on what happened to one who was given the honor of having it pinned to them.

"Nothing really comes from it. It's an honor-given title—no raises, no benefits, or extra vacation time is given after its received. Really, all you get is a very important friend after having the title bestowed on you." was what the man said.

Being told this was like him being shown a giant middle finger—so, it seemed that everyone else was referred in a normal sense while the ones who were granted "the title" were seen in a little grander light; he, at first, detested the use of the phrase and had asked for all to not speak or mention it around him. After Kalach was given the title, he had tracked the lovely woman who had bestowed it on him down and then given her a small talk on why he didn't want it given to him—he was shy, yes, and standoffish, and he was also very opinionated; he had done his private voicing and run-downs on the phrase after learning what it was.

Was it fair to the other employees to not be considered their employer's friend? Was it fair to the others that were employed as TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit's staff to not be considered trusted? To him, that was a big, fat, no. A small fight had happened between he and his employer's wife after she started giving out "the rank" to ones who she was close to; she had been twenty years in on her residency in the house when Kalach, Losal, Homsi, Eldass, and Zshon were approached and then given the title as her Most Trusted. With his seeing her as picking favorites, and not being fair to others, he had snapped at her and then started throwing his hands about; she, in response, had shrank against the wall and then said for him to take the issue up with her husband—seeing as she was passing the issue off on another, he had gotten even more irked with her. A long, five minute fight happened between the two of them before they went their separate ways. Kalach, after finding out about their fight, had grabbed and then told him to mind his own business and to stay out of others'—along with having one of them slapper fights with him, he and his brother had spent three days of distancing themselves from one another before the pride swallowing and then apologizing was done. Seeing as he had also fought with his employer's wife on the same issue, he had tracked her down and then apologized to her for his actions towards her right after doing so with his brother.

Friends didn't always get along and there was nothing in the books that said that people who had befriended one another didn't have their fights and that they didn't say their I'm-sorry's and then get over the fights that they had together; over the years, he and his employer's wife had had many fights but they had remained close, and friendly, to one another. He was shy, and standoffish and opinionated, and she was... well, she was a redhead and it was very well-known that people with red hair had tempers and were a bit flighty. Due to their constant fighting, it had been mutually decided between the two of them that he remain as a simple employee and that they remain as being normal friends without any titles or honors being given out—in a way, he did regret that decision.

Though he liked her, and a lot too, he did try to keep it a secret; sometimes, he did manage to keep it down but, on certain occasions, it did bubble to the surface. Kalach knew about the slight crush that he had on her and so did Homsi; unlike Kalach, who was quiet about it, Homsi was very vocal on his dropping how he felt about her. Though it wasn't as strong as it use to be, it was still present.

"Like Kalach, Mr. Surfeit's not my first and only employer." he thought after reaching the foyer and then going up its right-side stairwell.

And Mistress Angel wasn't the first workplace-based woman that he had gained a crush on; the one who owned that title was his first employer, Karmyra Z'Luun. Miss. Z'Luun, to that day, was still a bomb—green of face and body; long, luscious locks of bleach blonde hair, that about ran to her buttocks; legs long enough to wrap around a man twice; thin and delicate, but relatively strong, arms; a petite figure, that boasted a rather nice rack on the chest and a nice rump on the back; and small hands and feet, that was Miss. Z'Luun. Her facial features could use some work, yes, but the rest of her was just as fine as pie. Though polite during the interview, he had found himself as staring at the woman's fine body and hair all while talking and answering her many questions.

Miss. Z'Luun owned, bred, and raced horses and he had been hired to work them horses; with her living on the planet's other side, way across the ocean and close to where one of the big-time race tracks was, he had been required to leave his brother, who he had made an oath to stay together with, behind. He had no sooner started working for the woman before finding her as being a bit more than plain "loose".

Miss. Z'Luun hadn't been married then, and she still wasn't now; she had been fond of putting her hands on the male help and in seducing them to her bed. He had found himself as getting a one to twice-daily slap on the ass, and a near-groin grab or "brushing", and he had also found himself as getting "invites" to spend time in her bedroom. While being reciprocative of her advances, he had played safe by keeping away from her—most of the time, he had just partaked in the option of looking up them nice Cambrey dresses that she was frequently seen as wearing. He had worked for her for all of two years before his virginity was taken—one afternoon, while cleaning a room that had been left in more than shady condition thanks to her invited guests, she had come in, had locked the door behind her, and then come running over to grab him. He had learned a good lesson on that day—Miss. Z'Luun, while being a bomb on the outside, was a dud in the bed; she did a fabulous job in sucking a dick but, when one got her under the sheets, and was inside her, she became something like a dead fish.

After doing her, then leaving the room to return to his given quarters, he had been smacked with shock, fear, and humiliation—it was taught at Staffer's Academy that personal relationships with the employer, or his/her family, was bad for one's image and that it was very frowned upon. In Goblin society, if one was caught sleeping with the employer, or with his/her spouse, or with a member of his/her family, it was a sure bet that you'd be shunned for eternity. To add insult to injury, he had learned about four days after his virginity was lost that his employer slept with all of her male employees as a security thing—to keep them on the job and away from wanting to work with others; if she so much as caught one as wanting to move off to "better pastures" she'd blackmail that person and, if the man did do as he wanted to in finding someone else to work for, she'd turn him in for what he did with her.

This fact had been proven as true when his current employer showed up to interview some of the men in Miss. Z'Luun's service.

"Master Tazir met Karmyra one day when he was visiting the track that's in her town; after seeing who he was, and realizing who's family he belonged to, she saw an opportunity and tried to take it." he thought while going into the room that his employer, and his wife, slept in.

After meeting the man, Karmyra invited him to her place for "refreshments". While drinking lemonade, and sitting in lounge chairs, they had spoken to one another, and had exposed certain bits on their lives. By the time Mr. Surfeit disclosed that he also owned and bred horses, but more for his job in being a conqueror and for pleasure riding, and that he had a young daughter, that he was raising on his own, the lemonade that they were drinking had run dry. When the pitcher was noted as being empty, Miss. Z'Luun looked around for someone to yell at—being that he was the only one within shouting distance, she had targeted him.

"Hey! Slick, get over here and refill this pitcher!" the gelding, that he had been on the way to returning to his stall, had already been giving him trouble; that poor horse, and his poor man self, had gone skywards after her yell was emitted. Had Miss. Z'Luun seen his issues with the horse, or had gone to get someone else's attention? No, she had barked for him to hurry up like she hadn't seen what was going on.

"Miss, maybe you should call another fellow to do the job that you've requested. He looks like to have his hands full." he remembered TazirVile Surfeit saying.

"Oh no, Mr. Surfeit. He's a very capable fellow with the horses—it's just house chores, and being obedient, that he isn't capable of doing." Karmyra Z'Luun replied.

After five minutes of fighting the gelding, and of hearing his employer call him names, and hearing her tell him to hurry his ass up, and of hearing Mr. Surfeit saying for her to ask for someone else to refill the pitcher, he went to refill the pitcher with a fresh allotment of lemonade. Mr. Surfeit, after nodding his head after he was sent on his way, had taken down one glass of what he had put in the pitcher before standing and then excusing him. It had taken all of a week before news was heard on the man making a return to Miss. Z'Luun's residence—he had come close to crapping his shorts after hearing the purpose for the visit.

Miss. Z'Luun had figured that the man had grown interested in her, which was why she had given him a room and then said for everyone to be "nice" to him. While nothing happened between the two, the man had been keeping his eye open for men and women who looked unhappy in their present career—in all, five people were noticed, all male, and all who had been bedded, and who had grown fearful of their livelihoods and social standing thanks to their bedding of an employer, and then approached for private interviews. At the time of his former employer's noticement of what was going on, his interview was being done—she had been a little more than pissed over learning what she had; Mr. Surfeit had found himself as being kicked from under her roof and he, and the other four men who had been approached and interviewed for a new career, had received a threat from her. Of the five approached, only three took on the guts to leave her service.

"Mr. Surfeit," he remembered saying after opening the door to his cabin and then seeing the one who was staying as a guest in his employer's house on its other side.

"Just the fellow I was looking for," Mr. Surfeit said. "Took me two cabins to find the one that you reside in, may I be permitted to ask you a few questions?"

"Sure, see no reason to say no to you." he replied before letting the man in and then showing him where he could sit.

"You happy in your employship here?" the man asked after getting comfortable in the cabin.

While having cups of coffee before them, he had spoken his feelings on his job, and on how his employer treated him and his co-workers, and had given his two-cents on how she was with the guests that came by for either long or short stays; after speaking all of that, he had been interviewed. After seeing the man out, he had felt very happy and warm inside—all while talking to him, Mr. Surfeit had been taking notes in a pad and, before leaving his cabin, he had said that he had plans in turning her in for unlawful actions against an employee and for guest and employee-related abuse. Naturally, after learning what the man was doing while under her roof, then finding the ones that he had interviewed, Miss. Z'Luun had blackmailed and then turned two of the people who had been interviewed in—his record had just become tarnished when a phone call came in; Mr. Surfeit, regardless of his record being tarnished for life, had hired him.

A few months after working for the man, he had approached him and then put a bug in his ear about his brother—no pretty pictures had been drawn, and no pretty words had been said; he had just said that his brother was a smart, trustworthy, and hard-working individual who was as gentle as a lamb. After Kalach was hired, and moved in with his wife and new baby, he had found that he, too, had a tarnished record.

"We're lucky, Kalach and I. We could well of landed on the streets, with no way to find a job, or keep food on the table, or keep a roof over our heads." he thought while going into the room's adjacent bathroom and then rummaging for the bottle of medicine that'd take care of headache and migraine-related ailments.

After finding the bottle, he left the room then started crossing the one that it was adjacent to; he had only just started going across the room when he stopped. A white envelope was on one of the bed's pillows... seeing as it could be something from his employer, written with his wife in mind, he went to it, then picked it up, then left the room.

"Whoa there, Mr. Speelin." Abevo's heart skipped a beat; his employer, at the time of his near-exit of the room, was about to enter the room. He had come very close to walking into him. After receiving this shock, he lost his grip on both the bottle and the envelope; his employer was fast in taking the bottle up while, with the envelope, he was slow. "What's your purpose in going into the room that my wife and I sleep in, and for your having the bottle of Cranial X-Away, and where'd you find this?"

"Received a text message a few minutes ago, sir. Mr. Zultoa asked for the bottle of headache medicine to be brought to him—he's with your wife, sir, and she's experiencing a doozy of a headache and needs some relief from it. Figured that the bottle, that's in your and your wife's medicine cabinet, was the best one to retrieve for her." Abevo responded to the first two questions. After answering them two questions, he went to answer the third. "The envelope was on one of the bed's pillows."

"Where was you headed with it?" TazirVile gave the bottle of medicine to his employee but he retained possession of the envelope. After taking the bottle from his employer, Abevo saw that the envelope had his employer's wife's name on it; nothing else but her name was on it, and the written name looked a little off to him.

"To your wife, sir. I figured that you had written it for her and would want it to be received early." Master Tazir was known to write certain things to his wife and then leave them on either the room's dresser or on one of the bed's pillows; with this being known, it was easy for him to think of the letter as being perfectly benign.

"No, Abevo. I have written nothing for my wife recently, nor have I put something on one of our bed's pillows for her." TazirVile gestured for his employee to go on. "You may go. I'll see to disposing what was left in our room—since the sender's not known, and we don't know what's in it, we can't chance her getting it or getting sick from the contents that may be in or on it."

While his co-worker was coming down from the house's second level, and was making progress to the pool area, he was following their employer's wife around; in the time that his message was sent to Abevo and Ulok, she had gotten up and then moved three times.

While leaving the pool that had the mechanism that shot rose petals out into the water, he had turned so not to look at her—them long, colt-like legs had only been seen for a second while her naked back and front-side had been seen for a micro-second; the woman had a good complexion to her and the muscle tone, that was able to be seen on her, was also good and healthy. Master Vile had, without a doubt, stared at her all while she was getting out of the pool—this, without a doubt, had caused her to be repulsed and uncomfortable; all while getting out of the pool, she had snapped at him to look elsewhere, which he had plain refused to do.

While he had only followed her around to help her, and to look after her in her time of need, her father followed her only to see what she was "hiding" under her towel. At first, she went to the sauna; she stayed in there for a short while before leaving and then making a return to the flower pool. After spending two to three minutes in the pool, she had left it and then gone to where one of the soft foam topped tables were. At the moment, he was massaging her temples, trying to give her a little relief from what she was feeling, and, since the man who was her sire was still in the area, and was trying his best to look either up or down her worn towel, he was also trying to run her father off.

With what he was seeing, she wasn't experiencing a normal-day headache; it looked like she was in the throws of a migraine, which was a very different type of head-related ailment. A headache was nothing special, and didn't cause anyone any sort of special traumas, while a migraine was five to ten times worse; while some migraines were mild to moderate, the symptoms to them would still knock one out of commission for a while. They caused one to be irritable, and to be sensitive to light, sound, and certain smells; bouts of nausea, fatigue, dizziness, and throbbing of certain areas would also be experienced by one who was experiencing a migraine. While his employer's wife wasn't experiencing any nausea, or fatigue or dizziness, she was experiencing some sensitivities to light and sound and she was also highly irritable—she had snapped at her father several times since leaving the flower pool.

"Can't leave the room—that'd be going against Master Tazir's orders, and it'd also be leaving her all alone with her father." he had thought after she went to get back in the flower pool.

He didn't want to make what she was going through get worse, and he didn't want Master Vile to do something that might hurt her either. She shouldn't eat, or take down any liquids, and she shouldn't be moving about or getting into the pools either—if she shall become fatiguish, and then fall asleep, she might well drown. He didn't mind that her towel was loose on the top, and that most of her breasts could be seen, or that one of her legs was angled up while the other was held straight; what got him was the fact that neither Ulok or Abevo had gotten here yet with the medicine that he had asked for them to retrieve, and that Master Vile didn't seem to understand that his daughter was stricken with a probable migraine.

He could send another message to another of his co-workers, or he could open the room's door and then ask for one of his Mistress's children to retrieve what she needed; there were just too many possibilities over what could happen if he left the room, or was seen wandering the halls, and not being at his post. At the moment, it seemed that his act of rubbing his Mistress's temples was doing the trick in helping her, and in releasing some of the pressure that she was feeling. If he left the room to go retrieve some medicine for her, he'd have to stop rubbing her temples, which might make her headache either return to what it had formerly been or increase. With Master Vile acting in the way he was, he knew that he couldn't rely on him to get the woman some medicine for her ailment—he was too enthused in looking at her to do much of anything.

He couldn't contact Homsi; he was busy with dishes or, quite possibly, the kitchen floor. He couldn't contact Kalach; he and Kohl were in the boathouse, checking the various items that were in the building. He couldn't contact Losal; he had probably been given some other chore to do after lugging the mail up to their employer. Zshon was busy on the pier... it was either wait for Abevo or Ulok, and risk the migraine getting worse by doing so, or go get the medicine himself.

"Mistress, I apologize for disturbing you, but do you think I could leave you for a minute or two? It doesn't seem like the ones that I messaged are bringing what I asked for them to retrieve for you." Eldass asked. At the last second, he had made the decision to take all the risks to go retrieve the medicine for her.

"How long has it been?" Angel asked.

"Five minutes,"

"Give it a minute or two more," Angel said. "They might be encountering a problem or two, or Tazir stopped them or something."

"Mistress, I don't want your headache to get worse—I fear that it will if you're forced to wait a few more minutes for what you need." Eldass said as he slowly removed his hands from the temples that he was rubbing. Angel made no response to what he had said, so he figured that she was giving him his cue to go do as he had said he wanted to do.

Before Eldass could leave the room, Angel got up from the table. The towel, that was around her, dropped to the floor; both he and Master Vile got a bird's eye view of her exposed body for a few seconds before the purple satin robe, that was on the room's other table, was retrieved and then thrown around her. She had just gotten the band around herself, and had just tied it off, when Abevo knocked on the door and then entered the room. Abevo took one look at Eldass, who was in a moment of stunned silence, and Master Vile, who was shaking his head to rid himself of what he had felt after seeing what he had, before walking forward.

He gave the bottle of Cranial X-Away to Angel then he stepped back; Angel unscrewed the top, then upended the bottle, so that a single pill would fall into the palm of her hand, then she made as to leave the room. She downed the pill, then thanked Abevo for retrieving what he had, then left the room; before leaving the room, she said something about taking a nap.

In all, it took Eldass all of two minutes to get himself back together; when he was back to being himself, he saw that it was just he and Abevo in the room. Master Vile, it did seem, had left during his moment of being dumb-shocked.

"You saw her in the natural way, didn't you?" Abevo asked.

"Mhmm," Eldass nodded his head. He ran his hand through his hair before going on to leave the room himself. Abevo, who gave his head a nod after hearing an affirmative to his question, followed on his heels.


	37. Chapter 37

Her exit of the Spa Room wasn't very dignified; due to how bad her headache was, she came close to tripping right after leaving it. A repeat was done two to three minutes later, when she was going up one of the house's staircases—unlike the first time, where her feet got caught up in one another, her legs gave out on her; if not for the banister, she would of gone tumbling down the stairs. Tazir, after coming upon her struggling in the hallway that their bedroom was on, had helped her in getting to their room. Along with placing her on the bed, and throwing the sheets over her, he took a small syringe out and then used it on her—according to him, he gave her a mild sedative that would make her sleep for a short while.

What she hadn't known was that the sedative given to her wasn't mild—her husband gave her something that'd not only conk her out for the rest of the day but that would also keep her in bed for around half of the following day. Once she was up, and noticed that it was nearly ten in the morning, she knew that something had happened—when she left the Spa Room, it was heading on three in the afternoon. After waking, then showering and throwing some clothes on, she left the room to find her husband, and to see how her children were.

The hallway that she entered was cool and quiet, which made her feel a little uneasy. With it being the hour that it was, there should be people walking about, making their various sounds and noises, and talking their various conversations—instead of finding this, she found the hallway as utterly quiet and still. Eldass, she remembered, had been given the chore of watching her yesterday; with today being a new day, he had probably been given a new chore to do. For a small second, she wondered if another in her husband's staff would be appointed the task of being her shadow or if she was to be left alone that day.

"With me sleeping off what I had yesterday, I'm able to see a lot better. And the lights, and certain sounds, aren't effecting me either, which is good." she thought while going down the hallway.

With her husband being "caught" in rummaging through the box of old family photographs, that he had found in one of the old apartment's closets, the hallway had a few extra things in it now. The man, a few days before shoving off for Ssaavoo, had asked if he could hang some of the framed photographs that were in that box up and she, knowing full well that he wanted to both spiff the house up and close a chapter in his life, had said that he could.

The first picture that she looked at had all of her sons in it. Naturally, they were on Earth—at the time of the picture's taking, they were in Egypt; the soft, orange-yellow sand looked lovely, and the sky was nearly devoid of clouds and was a nice blue color. Bile and Lhaklar were running around, chasing one another around in the photograph's near-center; her oldest son was six hundred and seventy-three years old while her second oldest son was a hundred years younger—Hazaar and Lazeer weren't in the photograph but there was another that grabbed her attention right away.

Running behind her two older sons was a very small boy; along with looking to be in or around his three hundreds, he had very black skin. It looked like he had glowing yellow eyes in his face. The hair, that he had on his head, was black and soft in appearance. She stared at this boy for a few seconds before moving on—thoughts of her headache being so bad that it had left some effects that were still being felt came to her for a few seconds before dissipating.

"My boys weren't even in school yet, where'd you come from?" she asked after stopping and then turning to look at the next photograph that grabbed her attention.

If not for the fifth child in the photograph, she wouldn't of stopped or wondered what she had. After stopping to give the photograph a double-look, she automatically knew where it had been taken at.

The five boys were on one of the islands in the Caribbean; four of the five were there because she had brought them to her last scheduled shoot for the film, Water Works. While everyone was boarding the plane, and getting ready to go home, she and her sons remained on the island—the boys, along with wanting to see what mommy did when she was away from home, had wanted to spend some time on the beach. She remembered giving out a series of conditions before gathering them around her and then teleporting to the location where the shoot was to take place in—along with telling them to be quiet, and to not make any distracting sounds or noises, she had also told them to be on their best behavior and to not create trouble. They had been a good bunch of boys who had more than deserved to partake in what they wanted to do.

She remembered that the final scene for the movie was done very quickly; the director had said for the actors to climb onto a spit of land, that had been missed by the rising water, and then look around at their surroundings. After taking a gander at their surroundings, they were suppose to speak on how different things were and then comment on how things were never to be the same again—due to how simple this one scene was, it had been done in one take. Of the film's depicted human population, only five survived the disaster—two women, one who had a very young son to look after, and two men. A lot of animals—birds and ocean-life, meaning—had been required for the scene and both she and the on-hand crew had made the best of effort to gain them for it.

Bile was the only reason to why she had done the film; with his being one thousand and eighty-two years old, he had been closing in on the age appropriate to go to school—with tutelage at Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic being set at $100,000, she hadn't had any other options to go by in collecting what was needed for her son to get the education that he needed. With the film being expected to make big bucks in theaters, she had latched onto the notion of setting her own salary and the ones behind the film had honored it.

Due to the area being chilly on that day, all of her sons were wearing jackets. Bile and Lhaklar were running about on the shore; they were both chasing and using their powers to throw water on one another. Hazaar and Lazeer were wrestling on the beach; Lazeer's black and blue jacket was almost off of him, and Hazaar had sand in his hair. Her attention wasn't drawn to the four boys that were hers; in the photograph, caught in mid-jump above her two, younger sons, was a boy who looked eerily similar to the one that was in the photograph that she had seen earlier.

His outfit was very different than that of what her sons were wearing; his brown pants were pretty well torn up, his green t-shirt was in ribbons, and his jean jacket had a patchwork on its upper left arm and was missing a cuff and its collar. If she had to make any guesses on how old this kid was, she'd have to say that he was around seven hundred years old—he looked older than Hazaar, who was five hundred and eighty-two years old, but younger than Lhaklar, who was nine hundred and eighty-two at the time of the picture's taking.

The kid's mouth was shut, while his eyes were half-shut; going by the half-open eyes, she could see that they were of the scalene triangular type and were a bright glowing yellow color. Going by how he was positioned, and by the mood that was coming from the photograph, she knew that no harm was being done to her sons—the fifth kid, who also had midnight black skin, looked to be about to join them.

After looking at the photograph, and reminiscing about its forever frozen past, she figured that the fifth kid was just one of the locals who had gotten into more than his fair share of black paint—kids did do the stupidest of things sometimes, after all. With her view of the photograph being over, she continued on her way down the hallway.

Instead of picking a location to go to, she let her feet take her to where they wanted her to be.

"Looks like the man went a little overboard on the photographs." she thought while going down the hallway. From what she was seeing, it looked like Tazir had put all of what had formerly been in that box on the walls.

A photograph of Hazaar, from when he had been three hundred and eighty years old, was given a passing glance before she moved on; her young son was wearing a pair of dark green and blue footie pajamas, and was coming down from the upstairs portion of their old apartment. The photograph, that was beside that one, was of Lazeer—it had been taken a few minutes after the previous one.

Lazeer, who hadn't had all that grand of control of his legs yet, was depicted as being a little clingy with the banister of the stairs. Due to his two hundred and eighty year old self being afraid of tripping and then falling down the stairs, he was refusing to come down on his own.

Here was a photograph of Bile; he was six hundred and forty-one years old, and he was depicted as holding a one hundred and forty-one year old Lazeer. The one beside that one depicted Bile as holding both Hazaar, who was two hundred and forty-one years old, and Lazeer. The next one over depicted a five hundred and forty-one year old Lhaklar, who was holding Lazeer. The photograph beside that one had Lhaklar holding both Hazaar and Lazeer in it while the next one over had her and all of her children in it—a professional photographer had taken all of these photographs.

"Before the man had a chance to rummage through that box, I went up to do a spell on it—the pictures that have Dione and her family in them no longer have them in them now." she thought before stopping to take in the next few photographs.

A photograph of Bile, from when he had graduated from Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic, was beside the professionally taken ones; her son looked dashing in his black and gold robe, and she looked right proud of him. The next three photographs were of Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer from when they had graduated from Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic while the ones above them were of when they had graduated from the University of Telepathy.

She was in each of the photographs but there was a visible difference to her in each of them—her hair was a different color. At the time that her sons were doing their forms, they had put her down as being of the Chamaleon people, which were a race of people who's hair changed color all the time. With their being "missing" at the time, this was more done so the school wouldn't know who her sons were and so they could get the education that they needed to get without having the press breathing down their necks.

The next set of photographs were of Bile and Lhaklar from when they were running track—above these were a few from when Bile did his wrestling meets. She was just walking by the photograph from when Bile was assuring his "title" of the school's wrestling champion when she stopped and then turned to look at the one that was beside it.

"That kid looks awfully familiar..." she thought aloud.

The photograph that she was looking at wasn't a real recent one; if she had to make any guesses, it had been taken over three hundred years ago. There were just two people in it, but only one of them had her attention.

The photograph's background was of the old, Canadian apartment that she and Bile had lived in during Lhaklar's, Hazaar's, and Lazeer's years in being at the University of Telepathy. Due to there being a sink in it, she knew that the apartment's kitchen was where it had been taken in. The window, that was over the sink, showed that it was about to storm—thick, black clouds hung all over... even though it was very dark outside, the photograph wasn't dark at all. A happy feeling, or a feeling of contentment and happiness, was what she felt after turning to look at it.

Bile was just one thousand, eight hundred, and twenty years old; he was just starting to move from wearing non-ripped or torn shirts to shirts that had a rip here, a tear there, and so forth. His arms were really starting to fill out with firm muscle. At first, she took the kid, that was standing beside him, as being one of his old school friends who had decided to come by for a visit—she was fast in retracting this; due to both a feeling, and to knowing that all of her sons' old school friends had moved on, and had no further contact or association with her sons, the boy couldn't be someone from their old schooling days.

When Bile had been one thousand, eight hundred, and twenty years old, he had been six foot, one and a half inches tall; using him as a scale, she guessed that the kid beside him stood five foot, eight and a half inches tall. The complexion of the kid's skin was as black as night, and his eyes were in the shape of scalene triangles and were a bright glowing yellow color. He was tall and thin; there was little to no muscle on him. The kid was smiling; his crooked, milky-yellow teeth were showing in a pitch black face that had a snub-like nose, thin to medium-sized lips, a right gentle-looking brow, and a square-shaped jaw in it. His hair was long and, just like his body, black; it was very well kept, and went to his shoulders.

At first, she thought that there was something off about the kid's head; there were two "points" sticking up from the back of his head that were a green color. When she looked closer, she came close to laughing—the two points, that were sticking up from the back of the kid's head, were her son's fingers; Bile had given the kid a set of rabbit ears right when the photograph was being taken.

"Odd photograph to be put on the wall." she thought after looking at the next photograph.

The same, unknown kid was in it but, unlike the other photograph, he wasn't happy. Bile was also in the photograph; like with the kid, he didn't look happy. After staring at the photograph for a few seconds, she saw that she, too, was in it. Like with the kid and her son, she also didn't look happy.

After seeing these non-happy people, she drew in closer to see the picture a little better. While at this vantage, she was able to see that it was winter—the ground was covered in snow, the sky was a white-blue color, and there was a steam coming from each of the picture's depicted peoples' mouths. After drawing herself so close to the photograph that she was nearly planting her lips on it, she saw that there was another in it—a woman, who had long, black hair and who looked to be five foot, four or five inches tall. The woman had the black-skinned kid by the wrist, and was pulling him along behind her; the kid was facing the camera, and looked to be either yelling or screaming at both her and Bile.

It honestly looked like she was both yelling and either about to cry or was crying; the moist look, that was in her eyes, was unmistakable and so were the wet areas that ran down her cheeks.

After giving her head a shake, then blinking her eyes, she went on her way down the hallway; all while following her feet to wherever they were taking her, she thought about the photograph that she had just looked at. Why had she been so upset, and why had Bile looked so unhappy, and why had that kid looked the way he had and what was with that woman? She wondered all of this before, finally, looking up from the floor.

"Alright feet, you've gotten me here. Why did you bring me here?" she asked herself after seeing that she was both in her husband's office and was before his desk.

Her husband's desk had a shitload of envelopes on it; either the man had been doing a lot of mail-reading lately or he had made out a bunch of letters but hadn't had a chance to put a stamp on them or mail them out. Going by there being a few packages behind his desk, she guessed that it was the former rather than the latter—the pair of latex gloves, that were beside the envelopes, made this guess seem more solid; Tazir was a creature of habit... he always wore them gloves whenever he was dealing with the mail and, she remembered, he also had her and Eshal don the gloves whenever something came in the mail for them. Due to the man's habit in paying the bills with a hand-held device, she knew that the envelopes didn't contain a check for a certain company's bill.

When her feet made her go forward, towards he desk, she didn't put up a fuss or think up any questions on what was going on; Tazir's desk was clean of dust and dirt and any crumb-related matter, as it always was. Her husband wasn't one who liked to consume anything while being behind his desk; only when he absolutely had to, or was prodded to doing so, did he drink or eat anything while being in his office or behind his desk. While walking around the desk, she heard her husband's pet albino bat, Teskon, make a squawking sound; after turning to look at the animal, then noting that he was fine, she went on to doing as now her hands commanded her to do.

"Remember to keep them in a neat pile—Tazzy doesn't like for things to get cluttered on his desk." she thought while watching her hands go to work on the pile of envelopes.

Most of the envelopes had come from the final people who had been sent an invite; everyone had mailed her husband, telling him that they'd not be able to attend the event of getting to see and know her sons and getting reacquainted with her. They promised to be available either during the next holiday, which was to happen in the next three months, or during Family Week, which was to happen during the mid-part of August.

The non-family and associated party envelopes contained important papers from Tazir's conquered realms; the ones under them were from his friends. Here was one from Rilam Salirok, and here was one from Mewokken Khasahu, who were longtime friends of her husband's, and here was one from Gloar and his wife, who had simply wrote to say hello and to do a simple catch-up session.

After looking through these envelopes, then returning them to being nicely stacked, she went to say hello to Teskon; the intent, after saying hello to the bat, was to leave the room and then go to some other part of the house—instead of doing that, she found herself looking down and then going to where the wastebasket was.

"Okay, now my impulses are starting to scare me." she thought after finding herself as dropping to her knees and then sifting through the contents that were in the small, metallic mesh can.

Being as confused, and mildly scared, as she was, she figured that it was time to go; Tazir, if he came in just now, and saw her as rummaging through his wastebasket, would think that she was still suffering from her headache or had grown crazy. What was her purpose in being in her husband's office in the first place, she wondered while going through the can's contents. All she had done was look through a bunch of envelopes, that were harmless and that contained very harmless things, and then say hello to Teskon, and... well, she could add what she was doing now to what she had done after entering the room. She looked through the shredded pieces of paper, that had, at one time, been full pieces of paper, then through the crumpled pieces of paper, the used-up pens, and the two newspapers before deciding to stop what she was doing and then get up.

She was just getting to her feet when her hands shot forward; the basket's contents flew across the room in slow motion for a second before coming to a stop. She sighed after seeing the mess that she had made then started the chore in taking what was on the floor up.

Three balls of paper, and two used-up pens, were returned to the wastebasket when her eye was attracted to a simple, white envelope that had her name on it.

"Ooookay... sometimes when the unknown conscious knows something that the known conscious doesn't you should just shut up and go along with the flow." she said with a nervous titter while taking the envelope up from the floor.

With the envelope having no address on it, she knew why it had been trashed—unless it had the whole works on it, Tazir didn't open it or allow for anyone in his house to open it. For an envelope to be opened, and have its contents read or taken in, it had to have the sender's and the recipient's addresses on it and it also had to have a stamp on one of its corners. Over the years, she had seen him trash more than enough envelopes that were either lacking one or the other of them things—while this could be seen in a bad light he had good reason to do this; who knew what was in or on it and its contents and who knew what would happen after them probable unknown chemicals got on a person.

After taking the envelope up from the floor, she went to the room's couch then sat down; she opened the envelope without having gloves on then she evicted its contents then started reading them. She had no more started reading the piece of paper's words before her heart started slamming in her chest, and she had no more concluded the reading of the paper's words before finding herself as having to suppress the scream that wanted to come out.

 _I should of known better than to pursue such an impossibility; when I saw that the new forms, that came in about my new adoption, said that Angel Irene was my new mutter, I was ecstatic. I was happy in knowing that someone that I knew, who had helped me and showed me love in the past, was about to take me from the hell-hole that I was adopted into twenty years ago. When I came by the apartment, to take my place among my new family, I was expecting the whole works of a welcome but, instead, found myself walking into an abandoned building that was completely devoid of life._

 _I was upset for all of a week and a half before deciding to do the contact thing, that they teach at Pronghorn; when contact was achieved, and I found that you had been taken, my hopes on not being abandoned were lifted. I tracked you down, tried to run to you and help you, and tried to rescue you from your captor, and you ran from me. I used everything that I was taught when I was a student in Goboshu's Academy of Meanness to get in contact with you, and your sons, and I found myself as being blocked from doing so. When I was finally able gain a new connection to you five, I found myself as being so forced out that I couldn't see straight, much less be able to stand or hold anything down, for hours. The message has been received on my end, I shall not bother you or your precious family again—the sick joke that you played in adopting me only to cast me out in the shadows like a piece of trash has been figured out. - Guyunis Meyer_

Guyunis! Oh shit... it was Guyunis who was trying to get in contact with her and her sons and who had been pestering her and her sons for the last near-month!

After reading the letter, then returning it to its envelope, then stashing the envelope somewhere in her husband's office, she shot up from the couch then left the room. She had only just started down the hallway when she forced herself to slow down; the pang of pain, and anger, that was being felt was immense... she had an issue with breathing for a little while before, finally, getting control of herself. How could she? How could she hurt someone as sweet as Guyunis and how, for the wonder, could she of forgotten him? With her taking him in, and raising him as both her own and among her sons, she should of known who he was—she had even paid for him to get an education for crying out loud!

The anger that she felt was so great that she contemplated throwing herself at the wall; with the act of her actually abandoning one of her children now known to her, she wanted to hurt herself. She wanted bruises and cuts to appear on her, and she wanted to yell and scream, and tear her hair from her head... At the last possible second, she retained this want of hers.

While going down the hallway, she remembered that Guyunis had been born to her scientist friend—Lisa Ann Wahlberg. He had been in the womb for all of eight months before coming out, and then, after being born, he had been sent away to an orphanage, where he had been adopted out to people who had treated him like scum. His date of birth was June 27, 2000... exactly eight months after his mother was rescued from Kuruk's fortress home by Dione, Perniceie, and Azura.

Lisa, she remembered, hadn't had a desire in keeping him; right after learning that she was pregnant, and that she was carrying a baby by the one who had tortured her for all of three weeks, she had gone to get an abortion. Right up to when she delivered her son, she had made numerous trips, about one to two a month, to the abortion clinics to expel him from her—instead of going through with the visit, and getting her child removed from her, she had left the clinics and then returned to Atlas's stronghold. Guyunis was born right when the sun set; two mid-wives had helped his mother with the delivery, and they had tried just about everything with no success to get her to hold him and to change her mind about him. After being sent to the orphanage, he had spent two months in a rather large crib before being adopted by a family who had treated him well—or, at least for the first few years; after seeing that he wasn't growing, or maturing like a normal, Earth-created child, they slacked on the job.

For most of his life, Guyunis had been raised by two to three generations of the families that had adopted him; except for her and her sons, he had been treated very poorly by the ones who had "inherited" him after their folks passed away.

"This is no normal photograph—the security camera, that was mounted on the apartment's exterior wall, took it. It was taken a few days after he graduated from Goboshu's Academy of Meanness." Angel thought while going past the photograph that had the non-happy her, Bile, and Guyunis in it. "Lisa caught wind of me having you two days earlier... after making the trip to where I lived, then calling me out from the apartment, she and I got into a big fight—I tried my damnedest to adopt you on this day... and she would hear none of it. After taking you, she stuck you back in the orphanage; I received a letter from her a few days after you was returned to the orphanage... in it, she claimed that she didn't want me to be burdened with you, which was absurd. I raised you as one of my own, and I treated you like my own... I loved you like one of my own and... and I disgustedly abandoned you after I finally got her to sign the adoption papers saying that I was now your new mother."

As she walked by the photograph that had all of her sons on the Caribbean beach on it, she remembered it all. She had taken Guyunis in three times—the recent one came to a close three hundred and eighty years ago while the second one was referenced in the photograph that she was going past. The Guyunis in the photograph was no more than seven hundred and eighty-two years old—a child who had already seen too much and a child who had already thought of himself as low-down dirty trash.

At the time of her taking him on for the second time, she and her biological sons were in Egypt. The boys had just gotten through training with their powers, and were just running around, having a good ol' time in the sand, when he was seen as running towards her. She, who had figured that she'd never see him again, had dropped to her knees and then held her arms out to him—the caravan, that had been in the process of taking him back to the orphanage, that was in some small, European town, had missed seeing him as he slid from one of their animals and then made his escape.

She remembered him running into her, and then her arms wrapping around him; after having him in her arms, she stood then turned to tell her sons to come over so she could take them home. He had spent all of two hundred years with them before his real mother learned that she had him again. He had been a fine young man... he had done his best to not cause trouble, and to do good, and she had done her best to undo all the harm done to him over the years.

While walking by the photograph that had the now-known-to be toddler Guyunis in it, she remembered that it had been her who had named him. The ones who had taken him on as a child had never named him, or had given a shit about naming him; it had either been Demon Child or The Demon or That Kid for them. After seeing him for the first time, she had named him—he had been three hundred and seventy-three years old... a toddler who knew just the basics on how to use his body and who was just starting to speak. At the time of their first meeting, the orphanage had been trying to return him to his mother—the ones who had taken him on had all died out in the recent plague, and there had been no one available to take him to and the population, naturally, was low thanks to the plague... they had tried to return him to his mother with no success. While on the way out from Atlas's stronghold, he had seen—

"Bile. He saw Bile, and then Lhaklar—he, who had never seen a non-human child before, was instantly curious about them. After breaking away from the guy who was taking him back to the camels, he ran right up to my sons, who were fast in playing with him. It wasn't until Guyunis ran up to me that I... that I knew who he was. There was no question in my mind then and there's no question in my mind now as to who fathered that kid."

The man who had been leading Guyunis to the camels had come up, and then apologized, before taking Guyunis up; she had done as any other parent who had just gained an attachment to a child who wasn't wanted would—the question on whether the man would leave the boy with her, so she could raise him as one of her own, was asked... and was declined. According to the man, it was against protocol to do that; a child from the orphanage had to be adopted via the orphanage instead of just being handed over to someone that they can't "monitor".

With their visiting Dione and her family, and Atlas and his, they had slept in a tent on that night; it had been very cold, and each of her sons had had two blankets on them to keep them warm. She had just made he rounds in making sure that they were all asleep when the sound of someone crying outside the tent was heard. After leaving the tent, then looking around to see where it was coming from, he had run up—even though the night was very dark, and the moon and stars weren't out to give some light to the out and about peoples that roamed after the sun set, Guyunis had known where she was and had run up to her. After seeing him, then picking him up, she had taken him into the tent.

"I gave him some food, and then some water, then I put him down for a nap—poor thing was really tired, and his feet were really sore too." she said in a whisper. "He didn't want to sleep on his own, so he crawled over to me—he fell asleep after curling up against me. Before I fell asleep, I named him—'GuyunisVile Lytro Surfeit', I said to him; 'you're the son of Lisa Ann Wahlberg and ShaamVile Kondee Surfeit... your name shall be GuyunisVile Lytro Surfeit.' "

While passing the room that she and her husband inhabited, she remembered how both she and her friend had been fearful over Shaam's impulses and over Lisa catching pregnant by him. In the three weeks that she and her sons, and Lisa, were living in Kuruk's house, Shaam had really shown how big his libido was—with his constantly going after Lisa, and making her go through more than one fear-induced session with him, it was no surprise that she had caught pregnant by him. In the three weeks that Lisa was under Kuruk's roof, she had been forced to have sex with Shaam four times—during each session, he'd go on about how much he liked her, and on how he was to take her home with him; after each session was done, he'd take all of what he said to her back and then say that she was nothing more than a "relieving lady", or a woman that a man used only to take the itch from his wanting to have sex away.

Lisa, at the time, had something like a male condom in herself; a friend of hers had invented it and had asked her to wear it. It hadn't been intended to go through a testing session but, thanks to the circumstances, it had gone through one; the device, later patented under the name of The Protective Reverse Condom, had been made as a way to protect women from men who had a wish to rape them, or who wished to have an non-concentual incestuous relationship with them. After Lisa was returned to Earth, the device was put on market; after three months, it was removed from the shelves that it was put on—a big flaw had been noted in it, which revolved around it breaking down after the second ill-done encounter occurred. That was one of the reasons to why Lisa had caught for Shaam.

The other reason revolved around Shaam himself; while he was a frequent user of a spell that caused him to become infertile during non-marital sex, and while he usually kept that spell on-going for a week and a half to two weeks before dropping it, he had done the counter-spell right after his and Lisa's final act was done. It was this, and the ejaculate being free in going past the broken interior condom, that had caused their child to be created.

"Four days after Tazir, and his family, showed up on Earth, I took a trip to see Miss. Lisa."

She remembered it very well; after going up to her friend, then looking her in the eye, she had said that she was adopting her son and that she had no say on it and that she couldn't stop her from doing so. A fight had happened; it had mostly been verbal, but Lisa had shoved her twice, and she had threatened to burn her dress and lab coat once, before the papers were shown and then the pen was given over. Lisa, who hadn't had a desire in having her be burdened by the child that she had given birth to, had signed the forms and then said for her to get the hell away from her. With Guyunis having been raised by her a few times, and for stretches of, sometimes, two hundred years, and with her being as close to him and seeing him as a child of hers, she hadn't been able to forget him or forget about wanting to have him as a permanent fixture in her and her sons' lives.

Lisa, just before saying for her to get away from her, had said that she didn't want to hear or see a thing of her son and that she hoped that she had "a good time" in taking on what she had given birth to. After getting the papers signed, she sent them to the orphanage, which had become a sort of big-time agency over the years, and then sat and waited for them to be approved and then processed. Apparently, the approval and processing occurred before Tazir took her and her sons from Earth and, apparently, Guyunis received word on her being his new adoptive parent after she and her sons were off the planet.

"The yell! The yell that I heard on the fourth of December...! That was Guyunis—he yelled after coming to the apartment and then seeing that it was empty!" she came close to stopping and then shouting. At the last possible second, she clamped her hands over her mouth; the shout was stifled just in time.

She continued on her way; the task, she knew, was to find her sons and then tell them what she had just learned. They would want to know who their "tormentor" was and they would probably also feel low, and then excited, after hearing that the "tormentor" was to be a member of their family.

" 'Not bother me and my sons again' ?" she repeated the final line in the letter that she had read. "Fat chance of that happening—I'm coming to get you, G. I'm going to Earth... I'm going to find you. There might be a lot of explaining for me to do after your here but you're coming home with me. You _are_ coming home to be with the family that you should of had from the beginning."

While going down the stairwell that wound around the foyer's right side, she suddenly, and alarmingly, remembered that she had been given Jaboa a week ago. She had taken that edible potion, that would prevent one from teleporting anywhere, while Tazir stood over her and prodded her into doing so—how was she to get to Earth when the potion was still affecting her?

She couldn't take the trip to the library to find the book on counter-spells, then find the one that she needed then apply it to herself without anyone finding out what she was up to. She couldn't hitch a ride to the planet—people would notice her, and would put a bug in her husband's ear about her taking a trip to Earth; if her husband found out that she was hitching a ride to the planet, he'd retrieve her and then a fight would happen, which would probably not go in her favor. Having someone teleport her to the planet was out too—if she was sent to the planet by someone, she had no way of getting back to Moas.

Her husband was dead-set on Guyunis being a malevolent force hell-bent on hurting her and her sons; he would probably not accept her claim on adopting a child, and on leaving said child behind, and he might prevent her from retrieving said child after she explained who he was and what he looked like.

Could she go to Shaam, then explain the situation to him and then get him to either send her to the planet or come with her to the planet so she could retrieve Guyunis? She was just giving it a good thought on doing this when she found herself as walking into the very man that she was currently thinking about.

"Whoa there, Lass!" ShaamVile said after walking into her. He was gentle in pushing her from him.

"Sorry, been telling, and getting on Tazzy for the lack of lights and signs that the house's hallways have on them." Angel said.

"You feeling alright? According to Tazir, you wasn't feeling well yesterday." he gave Angel a quick studying before looking her in the eye.

"Must of slept it off because I feel like a million bucks." Angel said.

"That's good—we were all worried about you last night. Your sons were especially worried about you... all but one was given punishment for not listening to their papa—Tazir wanted you to be left alone and they kept wanting to check up on you." ShaamVile said.

"They were punished?" Angel gasped. Just hearing this made her not want to bring Guyunis to Moas, or to the mansion; if Tazir was punishing her kids for their being concerned for her then there was no telling what he'd do or say when Guyunis was in the house.

"Grounded for a week, Tazir says. All but Lhaklar were grounded—good decision, if you ask me. They just kept coming, and they wouldn't listen, Lass. You needed your rest; you didn't need your sons clambering all over you."

They talked for a short while; Shaam told her to not worry about about her sons being grounded, and he told her to take it easy. While Angel agreed to do this, she had no intention in doing so; with what she had just learned, being not-worried about her sons being grounded for an innocent action in seeing if she was okay or not, and taking it easy after learning that one of her children had been abandoned and was on Earth, she couldn't do neither of them things. Before going their separate ways, she asked the man a question—seeing as he was Guyunis's sire, and seeing as she didn't know how he reacted to folk of non-marital blood, she had to see if he would tolerate one in the family who was illegitimately born.

She was slow, careful, and gentle when she asked the question then she waited for a reply; Shaam, after being asked what he'd do if he found that one of his past-time lovers had had a child after sleeping with him, was silent for the longest of time before making a sound. He mused over the question for a short while; tasting it, and running it through his brain, before finding an answer—he had never been asked this question before and not once in his long life had he worried about some woman coming up to him and then saying that he was the father of her child.

"You ever hear of the Utasa Spell, Lass?"

"The spell that makes one infertile? Yes." Angel replied.

"I've been very careful with my activities with the Lasses, Angel. I use that spell with each partner that I take to my bed, so I have no worries on that ever happening." ShaamVile said.

"But say you did the counter-spell to it right after, or a few days after you and your woman did your thing—the life expectancy of semen is between five days to a week, you know."

"Again, Lass, I have no worries on a woman coming up and then saying that I've fathered one of their children. I've always done the counter-spell a few days after a week to two weeks have passed since I've bedded a woman, so I'm sure that that won't ever happen with me."

"And if by some chance one of your sperm did live past that time and you was the father of—"

"I will not accept any child claimed to be sired by me without a DNA test being performed and, even then, I'd have nothing to do with that child. I will only claim a child as mine if the woman that bore that child is engaged or married to me." ShaamVile said before going on down the hall.

Angel gave her head a nod; it was a good thing that she had asked him what she had before either coming clean on her present situation or going to retrieve Guyunis and then bringing him back. The man who was Guyunis's sire would probably be against her going to Earth to retrieve his son, and he'd probably be against her adopting him, and mothering and loving him—there was no telling what he'd do after finding that he had a son who was created out of two people who weren't married or engaged to one another... for all she knew, the man might hurt or kill Guyunis after learning about him or after seeing him as being brought to the mansion and then learning that he was his son.

Guyunis wasn't the one at fault for his being alive; he hadn't made his father have sex with his mother, or had asked to be born. All he had done was be born and then find himself as living in homes that were inappropriate for him.

After learning what she did, she made the decision to leave the mansion and to take all of her sons with her; there was no way that she'd go to Earth without them, or retrieve Guyunis without having them with her, and she wasn't about to leave them in a house where there were people who didn't understand them.

She wanted to help Guyunis, yes, and she wanted to show him the love that the ones who had taken him on as an adoptive son should have, and she wanted to be the mother that he had never had, but she didn't want to bring him to a house where he could be hurt or where everything was in such an upheaval that he might just be taken wrong or misunderstood. If Tazir had grounded three of her sons for their concern for her then what say he'd ground Guyunis for his simply saying something that he frowned upon or misinterpreted; along with all of these worries, her biggest one was of Tazir sending Guyunis away after seeing him and then learning that she had adopted him—while Tazir had let her adopt his daughter from his first marriage he might not like the idea of her adopting a child that wasn't fathered by him.

She also had to think about her great-grandfather too. He seemed so against having a little brother or sister; from what she was able to see, he seemed to want to be an only child. She didn't want Guyunis to be entering a battlefield, or walk into a fight where one member of his family claimed that he wasn't his get or that he didn't like or want him around. Duru's close-knit relationship with his father to the side, she didn't want anything to happen to any of her sons, Guyunis included in the mix.

Angel, the second she entered the smaller of the house's kitchens, started formulating a plan on her and her children's exit of the mansion; when the plan was halfway done in being drawn up, she started making herself a sandwich, and then started humming a small tune.


	38. Chapter 38

Even though the wind was bitter cold, he didn't feel it; no mind at all was paid to the hard, cold ground that he was sitting on, or to the fact that his stomach was sort of empty. He had forced himself to eat his chicken and dumplings, and the other things that were on his plate that evening—due to his excitement, he didn't feel as if he had eaten anything. His interests for the afternoon and evening hours, and his appetite, had all been zapped away after he learned what he had that late morning, which was now just two minutes away from becoming tomorrow's late-morning.

How could he of been so blind and dumb over thinking that his and his family's "tormentor" was just that, a tormentor? His mother's words had slapped him in the face with such force that he had come close to both falling and losing his breath—when they had been younger, he and Guyunis had had a great relationship; with their getting along as well as they had, they had really taken on the role of being Big Bro and Little Bro. Their music tastes were similar, and so was their interest in films, and, if he recalled correctly, the kid had also had the same interest in the opposite gender too.

Guyunis, the son of Lisa Ann Wahlberg and his own great-great grandfather, ShaamVile Kondee Surfeit, was the one trying to contact him and his family... and all they had done was see his attempts in doing so as nothing more than bad dreams or as some demonic force trying to take possession of them.

In a way, he had known that something was up after coming upon his mother that late, near-tomorrow morning; along with having a certain glow around herself, and a wide smile on her face, she had had an aurora around herself that had taken him by complete surprise. Hearing her say that he had a new sibling had sure knocked him on his keister— _you're pregnant_ , he remembered asking her; _no, he's already in his teenage years, and has gone through more than enough to make one of your age look low_ , was what she had said in response. Only when he asked her who it was that was his new sibling had he gotten the wind taken from him.

"You remember a young fellow by the name of Guyunis Durr, Bile?" his mother asked him. He recalled just standing there, with his thumb up his butt and with his tongue lolling out from the side of his mouth; when he didn't answer her, she came up then placed her hand on his shoulder.

Guyunis Durr... that name sure seemed familiar—uh, the Guyunis part, not the Durr. After giving his head a shake, he had found himself as being told to go up to his room and then put on some music; _it'll come to you, Biley_ , was what she had said after telling him to go to his room and then listen to some music.

Boy had she gotten that right; he had only just gotten through listening to the fourth song on the Twisted Sister Stay Hungry album when it came to him. Durr had been Guyunis's surname three hundred and eighty years ago—from before he had come to be with him and his mother and from before he had been sent to school, he had been the "adoptive" son of Ulla Durst and Falco Durr, who had been a German couple. The Durr's had taken him on as a "son" after his former "family" were killed in a plague.

The Durr surname was what had been placed as Guyunis's surname when he had been enrolled as a student at Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic, and then at Goboshu's Academy of Meanness. While the kid, back then, was shorter than he he had sure had a motor in his legs—if he recalled correctly, he had shattered around six track records when he went to the latter school.

Guyunis, he remembered, had run away from the Durr family; they hadn't been treating him right, was what he had been told. Along with locking him in the basement, the man of the house had beat him with sticks and belts whenever he saw him and his wife had only "the heart" to feed him once a day—it didn't matter about the food because, whenever it was given to him, it was as cold and as inedible as could be; the kid had only eaten what he had been given to survive. After running away, he hitched a few rides on two or three trains before dropping himself a few levels in begging a few humans to "smuggle" him onto a plain so he could go to Canada; with the humans saying no, he had made the decision in trying to do the "smuggling" himself.

By way of putting himself in a box, and then taping that box up from the inside, and then mailing himself to an airport, he had hitched a ride across the Atlantic and then to the building that handled his and his family's area's mail. No one had ever noticed that he was on the plane, or that he was in the box—seeing as there were specific protocols that airports had to adhere to, he was still surprised over the kid's feat. After being plopped on their doorstep, and then seeing that the mailman was away from the apartment's imminent area, he did a Jack-In-The-Box routine then rang the bell; ma had been so very surprised and happy to see him and, really, so had he.

After being taken into the apartment, ma told him to take a hot bath, and then a nap, which he had done. A big meal had been made, which he had consumed like he had never eaten anything in his life, then he was given something to wear—he remembered Guyunis as wearing nothing more than a garden gunny sack, which had been fashioned to look like a tunic of some sort; he gave him items from his own wardrobe to wear, which had all looked rather baggy on him, then he suggested that they go to his room to listen to some music and "rekindle" themselves.

After remembering who Guyunis Durr was, he left his room in a mild charge; he hadn't had to go far before finding his mother and then asking her how Guyunis was his new sibling.

"Because I adopted him, sweetie. The young man, who's been acting as our "tormentor" since the early to mid part of December, is Guyunis—when we were taken from Earth, we sadly left him behind."

Guyunis, before being adopted by his dear mama, had been a ward of some couple by the name of Lenora Falkenrath and Mathis Meyer Jr.; with his hearing that Guyunis was his new sibling, and that he had been formerly adopted by his mother, he had started jumping. If not for his mother's action in telling him to stop, and to calm down, he would of started cheering and hooping and hollering over the fact of his family gaining a new, yet not-so-new, member.

"You going to get him, ma?" he remembered asking. "You gotta! You gotta go get him, and bring him h—"

"I would if I knew he would be safe after I did so, Biley." his mother replied quickly, yet somewhat quietly.

A _huh_ had come from him before the explaining occurred on why Guyunis couldn't be retrieved and then brought to the house; apparently, the man who was behind Guyunis's creation claimed that he wouldn't accept anyone who was born illegitimately and, apparently, the man who was Guyunis's older half-brother didn't want to have any brothers and sisters, and, apparently, his ma was worried about the two doing something that could hurt Guyunis.

Shaam, for all they knew, might hurt or even kill Guyunis, or he might take their mother to court just to get the adoption revoked—and just so he could get Guyunis away from them too. Duru, for all they knew, might do something to really hurt Guyunis—he might get jealous, or grow paranoid in his fear over no longer being his father's only surviving son and child. And Tazir, his adoptive father, might hurt Guyunis after either misunderstanding or misinterpreting him, and he might also not like the idea of his ma adopting a child that wasn't born through him too. There was also a chance that the two, latter people might stop his ma from being a mother to Guyunis too.

Before his mother said that they were headed to Earth, like he had figured they were, she had said something about telling Lhaklar to go down to the library and then "lift" a book on reversal spells and potions—ma couldn't teleport, thanks to his adoptive father making her take Jaboa a week ago, and she needed to know what was needed to be done so that the edible potion's affects were lifted from her. Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer had already been told about Guyunis, and about the adoption, and were just as ecstatic as he was on the "new" sibling.

" 'When do we go?' " he remembered hearing Hazaar saying at around two in the afternoon.

" 'Can we go now?' " Lazeer was heard as asking at around five.

" 'I'll go find and then get the books now, so you can undo what's been put on you... and so we can go to Earth to get him.' " he envisioned Lhaklar saying before going down to do as their ma had asked of him to do.

"At night... we leave after everyone's bedded down and is asleep." his ma said just before they sat down to eat supper.

Her plan was a brilliant one; they had started looking forward to it right away. No one had asked why they were eating so slowly, or looked to be forcing themselves to eat, and no one had wondered about what their plans were. Everyone had just eaten their supper and then gone to some other part of the house.

"Take a duffel bag out from your closet, Boys. Fill it with a week's worth of clothing—that means the whole works: shirts, pants, underwear, socks, and you best put two or three pairs of shoes and a pair of boots in there as well. If you wish to take anything else with you you best put it in the bag as well." their mother said to them after supper was eaten and they were momentarily alone to speak in private.

He had all of that and more in his dark green duffel bag, which was lying on its side right beside him. Along with the clothing, and shoes and boots, he had his music player, some of his best music, and some magazines—just in case both he and Guyunis wanted to listen to or read something, of course. The hazel green winter jacket, that he was wearing, was a last-minute add to the bag—as was the scarf, gloves, and the light red, thin-quality jacket that was also in his bag. Even though the items hadn't been disclosed in being packed, he hadn't had a desire in freezing his butt off.

Lhaklar's duffel bag was leaning against his feet; Hazaar's duffel bag was lying across his lap; and Lazeer had his duffel bag between his legs. Each of them probably had the same assortment of stuff in their bags—Lazeer was probably the only one to have something different in his; ma had instructed him to put all of his spare goggled glasses, and their cases, and his eye drops in his bag too.

All of his brothers were smart in taking a jacket from their closets and then donning them; none of them had their coats zipped or buttoned up but, judging by how excited they were, they were probably not all that cold. Before leaving Moas, he and his brothers had made all of their smokes appear above ground; all of their smokes were on their persons, they were just not being smoked right now.

Before leaving the mansion, ma took a trip to their father's office; she spent all of two minutes in the room before leaving—at the time of her leaving the man's office, she had been stuffing some bills in one of her pants pockets. Judging by how much money she had been stuffing in her pocket, they guessed that the man who was their father would find himself as lacking somewhere around two to five hundred dollars tomorrow, after waking up and then making his rounds in making sure that his office was as it should be.

"Okay, we're all out of the house. Where are we going?" Lazeer had asked after they followed their mother to an area in the backyard, and after their smokes were evicted from their hiding places and then put in their bags.

Nothing was said after that question was asked; with their using the mode of teleportation to get to Earth, they couldn't just go to the planet without thinking of a location that was on it first. Teleporting didn't work that way—a location had to be the locked on, and thought of, before it could be used. Ma, after putting her thinking cap on, had been quiet for a minute or so being snapping her fingers and then going to Hazaar; he had been asked if he remembered anything about the campsite that he had seen when his spiritual self was removed from his physical self and then pulled to where Earth was.

Along with saying that the place was very non-American, and that he had seen a store called Wellendorff in one of his dreams, he had said something about how fluent Guyunis seemed in German. It wasn't until a minute or so later that he said, and rather loudly too, that he had seen the "silver" shine of what he thought was a river in one of his dreams too. Apparently, the "silver shine" was something that he had only just remembered because he had said something about his "only just realizing it now" about it. With this being no help, ma had turned her attention to Lhaklar and Lazeer—a list of trees, like Norway spruce, Douglas fir, Scots pine, and European silver fir, was said then she waited for a response. Of the two that she had turned her attention to, only Lhaklar had said something pertaining to an area where them types of trees grew.

"I only know of one area where all them trees grow in—the Black Forest, which is a wooden mountain range, located in southwestern Germany." was what Lhaklar had said after hearing the list of trees.

Before telling them to gather around her, ma had nodded her head; she had teleported them to the location then she had said for them to find a place to sit in, that was in an open area, and then wait for her to return.

He had built the pit for a fire, and Hazaar had lit it for them, then they had taken to sit around it. They were doing as they had been told to do in waiting for their mother—they hoped that, when she returned, she'd have someone, who was both younger and older than they, with her.

Hazaar was reading a magazine; along with it being on his lap, its pages were being turned by the wind rather quietly. Whenever this brother of his heard a sound, he'd jerk his head up and then look every which way before going back to look at his magazine. Lazeer had the knife, that he had let him borrow, out and open; he wasn't doing anything with it other than having it open and in his hand—like Hazaar, he was on high-alert. Lhaklar was the only one of them to be standing; along with standing like a statue, he was looking out into the vast darkness that was around them.

He was sitting on a log; the thought of going out to do a quick hunt had crossed his mind once or twice but he didn't dare disobey his mother, or miss out on seeing Guyunis after he was found and then brought to where they were. Hunting would come later; he and his brothers would get their fill of the hunt, and of fishing, soon—and they'd have an extra brother tagging along with them while they did so too which, come to thing of it, was also rather exciting. He could see Guyunis asking and then being allowed to join him in a hunt, and he could also see him going with Lhaklar to fish some water source too.

"He's younger than both me and Lhaklar..."

Yes, but, even though he was three hundred years younger than he and two hundred years younger that Lhaklar, he was probably more mature than both of them. He gave it a good consideration about keeping his cool around his soon-to-be little brother, and in getting to know who he was now, before dropping both and then concentrating on what he had already planned to do with him, which was be his Big Bro and in including him on the things that they had a mutual interest in right away.

"Momma says that he goes by Meyer now—Guyunis Meyer." Hazaar broke the silence that was present between them.

"Don't expect it to stay as being that... he'll probably drop that surname." Lhaklar said. "Guyunis Surfeit or Guyunis Vile or—"

"Didn't mom name him GuyunisVile Lytro Surfeit after he ran up to her from out of nowhere?" Lazeer asked. "Named him traditionally, I think."

"How long has it been since ma went off to look for our brother?" Bile asked. With his calling Guyunis their brother, he heard a clicking sound go off in his head; he viewed the clicking sound as a piece of puzzle finding its place on the board, which, for him, was both exciting and a little spooky. "Seems like forever."

"Ten... fifteen minutes." Lhaklar answered.

"I hope she finds him. I hope that, when she comes back, she has him walking either beside or slightly behind her." Lazeer said.

"Same here." Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Bile said in unison before returning to being quiet. Hazaar followed in their example in doing the same.

They started thinking right when their mother resumed her yelling for Guyunis. Bile thought of how much he was going to miss Zanra, and his adoptive father and sister, and of how angry his adoptive father was going to be after waking and then finding that they weren't in his house; Lhaklar thought of how he hadn't been allowed to be him all while living on Moas, and of how he was going to miss his father and sister, and Granddad Cheshire and Grandma Ashaklar and their kids; Hazaar thought of all the times where he had been yelled at, and where he had been told that his hobbies weren't appropriate for him, and a small part of him also pulled him towards missing his father and sister too; and Lazeer thought about all the missed opportunities that he could of been funny, or made certain people in his family laugh, and, like Hazaar, a small part of him also called him into missing his father and sister as well. They were just shifting their weight, and in becoming a little less stiff, when their mother put a small pause to her yelling—she couldn't believe how many times she had called Guyunis by name, or had plain yelled for anyone who was in the area, and she couldn't believe that no one had come to her yet.

She couldn't help but feel a terror rise in her; while she knew where her sons were she also knew that they weren't in an area that they knew—so much could happen during her absence from them! There were things—animals—in the area that they weren't aware of that could hurt them and it was right dark and cold out... She hoped, for their sake, that they'd remain where they were, and didn't do anything rash, until she returned with, hopefully, Guyunis at her side.

Trees stretched up for what looked like miles; there were bushes that looked big enough to hide bears; and there was a small creek rolling by her—due to her not knowing if it was the one that Hazaar had spoken about, she was half-so ignoring it. The wind was very bad; it wasn't so much as howling as it was just plain cold—it almost felt like there were daggers striking her face, and the exposed parts of her body, that was how cold it was in her current area.

There were wolves; they were baying, and it seemed that with each step that she took they grew louder and closer. She heard the hooting calls of owls, and she heard the sounds of deer running through the underbrush around her. Whenever she yelled, she heard the sounds of the deer as they ran from where they were to someplace else—for some reason, her ears were placing the sounds that the deer were making on another creature; she envisioned a bear of some sort prowling the area, looking for its next meal or looking for the one who had disturbed it from its restful, winter-time slumber. Only by stopping, and then taking in two, deep breaths, had she managed to stop her over-imagination.

"With it being so cold out, and with there being a slight hint of snow on the ground, the bears wouldn't be up and about right now." she had thought while stopping to take them deep breaths. "The sows would of already had their cubs, and both they and the male bears would of lost around a quarter of their weight. It'll be another month or two before they make a return to being awake and alert so don't worry about one of them coming out to get you."

When the sound of something being beat against a tree reached her ears, she turned to see where it was coming from and what was making it. She halfway expected to see Guyunis, standing by a tree with a rock or a big stick, or maybe even a pipe of some sort; instead of seeing this hoped-to-see sight, she saw a little red Squirrel—it was pretty thin, and was probably only out of hibernation to replenish itself before making a return to sleeping, and it looked like it needed a haircut too. In the time since she had entered this forest, she had jumped and wheeled around with the hope of seeing Guyunis as being either behind her or somewhere to the side of her a total of ten times. She was beginning to wonder if all the sounds were being made as a way to distract her from finding her son.

With the exception of the owls, wolves, and deer and squirrels, the lack of wildlife scared her. What had Guyunis done in the fifty-five days that he had been forced to live on his own? Did he know how to hunt? Did he know how to follow game trails, or how to use his instincts to find prey that was scarce? Did he know how to purify water, so it was safe to drink? Had he kept warm when the nights grew cold, and had he kept himself cool when the daytime hours brought in the heat? Hazaar had said something about seeing a Mountain Lion pelt, a Lynx pelt, the skull of a wild boar, and two sets of antlers in Guyunis's camp; after telling her this, he had said that they had looked like hunting trophies so, maybe, Guyunis did known how to hunt—that or he just scavenged them from animals that he had found lying about.

She also remembered Hazaar telling her about the man-made cooker, that had been over the fire in one of his dreams, too. If not to cook something that he had either hunted or found then what could that be used for?

"Momma," her son, she remembered, had taken her to the side for a talk just after supper was eaten. He had looked rather grave in the face and she had been a little unnerved by that. What he said had unnerved her more. "He had some scars on him... in my final dream, I saw him as having a series of scars on his shoulders, upper arms, and chest."

After going to his room's bathroom, then making some photographs of what he had seen in his dream, he had shown them to her; the connection, between what Hazaar had seen and what was seen in Lhaklar's bathroom mirror, was made right after she saw them. Lhaklar had said something about seeing the dark-skinned man, aka Guyunis, fighting an emaciated Mountain Lion—the lion, while being weak, and malnourished, had fought her adopted son well enough to cause his skin to break! In a way, this was the piece to the puzzle on what some of Guyunis's activities were—while he was hunting, he was doing so in a very dangerous way.

He could well of gotten himself killed by the very animal that he was hunting; no one animal went down without a fight and, by his hunting with having no weapons on his person, or nearby, he had put himself in danger.

"According to Hazaar, Guyunis's camp may be near a water source of some sort..." she suddenly thought. "So, quit ignoring the area's water sources—check to see if there's any camps near them, or if there had been any near them in the not-too-distant past."

She had to be proud of her boys; while trekking on, looking for a water source that looked to either have a camp or the signs of a camp near it, she remembered how excited they had been when they found that Guyunis was finally becoming apart of their family. Her initial plan, should the papers be approved and then processed before Thanksgiving, was that Guyunis would show up and then she and he would fabricate a story on his only staying with them for the upcoming holidays. He would of either roomed with Bile and Lhaklar or Hazaar and Lazeer; he would of spent loads of time with them in either getting reacquainted or in just taking up from where he had left off in being with them three hundred and eighty years ago; and he would of had plenty of good food, love, and understanding going towards him. After Christmas rolled by, and just after New Years was celebrated, she'd have all five boys in the living room; the expelling on what was going on and on Guyunis's stay not being holiday-only would happen, and there'd be a lot of happy faces and jumping boys in the house.

With Tazir taking her and her family on the twenty-fifth of November, all of them plans had been dropped and, with all the stress that she had endured since being returned to Moas, she had forgotten all about them and, sadly, about her adopting Guyunis.

Lhaklar, instead of just plain being excited about Guyunis being a permanent fixture in their lives, had been both excited and helpful in the act of her getting her ability in being able to teleport back. After making the trip to his father's library, then "checking out" a few books on how to reverse certain spells, he had gone to his bedroom and then read up on the subject. When the material that he wanted to read was found, and then read, he made a trip to his father's potion's room—a green potion had been made, then smuggled to his room, then he had tracked her down. Due to her taking the potion down, her ability in teleporting was back—if not for that being returned to its former status she wouldn't of been able to teleport herself and her boys to the planet or be able to find where Guyunis was.

"And, after tracking me down, then giving me the potion, he made the trip to the house's smaller kitchen for some snacks that'd hold both us and Guyunis down until everyone calmed down from me finding and then bringing Guyunis back."

A few jars of peanut butter, some crackers, and several containers of cookies were taken to his room after the first trip was done while, after the second one came to a close, he took a few bags of chips and pretzels, some noodles, a few containers of dried fruit, and a container of water to his room—it had taken him two more trips just to bring an entire container of water up to his room.

After the house's inhabitants were all in their chambers, and were asleep for the night, she made her rounds in "knocking" on the doors to her sons' rooms; they followed her down to the second level before being told to stop and then wait for her to return to them—the business, that she did while being in her husband's office, was done in less than five minutes before she left it and then returned to taking her boys down to where the back door was.

She had a feeling that Guyunis wasn't going to be a very happy camper after seeing her; seeing as she had abandoned him, and seeing as she hadn't done anything in trying to connect the dots on who he was until today—or yesterday, seeing as the clocks had just turned past twelve-midnight—, she was probably going to see one very upset boy when she finally found him. While she knew that she and her family were going to be living on Earth for a while, she wasn't sure if a sixth member was going to be apart of them—if Guyunis was mad or upset enough, and said that he didn't want anything of them after she found and then explained the situation to him, she'd be crushed, yes, but she'd let him be. She wasn't about to plead or beg for him to forgive her, or to turn a blind eye on their up and forgetting all about him; all she could hope for was that he understood the reason to why they had distanced themselves from him and had abandoned him.

Like her sons, she had a week's worth of clothes for herself in a bag; unlike them, who had been able to pack all in one hour, she had been forced to do her packing in small spurts. Eldass had taken up from where he had left off two days ago in being her shadow—she had found herself as needing to be quick and sneaky with her activities and she had also been forced into lying about wanting to take numerous naps yesterday. Her bag, which was in Bile's own, and which had come from his own closet, had nothing fancy in it—just the necessary items like shirts, pants, undergarments, socks, and two pairs of shoes. Her sons had been wise in packing some winter-wares while the thought of doing so herself had never crossed her mind; while it was cold out, and while she was cold, she wasn't much effected by either—the safety of her biological sons, and the chore of finding her adoptive son, were the only things on her mind right now.

"Lass..."

"I'm just asking."

"You asked earlier."

"Really? I don't remember doing so."

"I feel rather violated with you asking the same damn question on what I'd do if one of the Lasses that I had slept with in the past came up saying that I was the father of one of their children, Angel. The answer is the same from me—I'd do nothing. Even after having a DNA test done, and then seeing that test come back as saying that I'm a positive match for whatever child is said is mine, I'd do nothing for that child. If you want to know, or if the question is about to be asked from you on this other item, let me tell you that it's the same if I find that anyone in my family is illegitimate—I'd severe bonds and put as much distance between me and that person as I could. Good blood shouldn't be tampered with the blood of illegitimates, Lass. Remember that."

While at supper, she had asked Shaam again what he'd do if he found that he had a child out there born from one of his former flings and he had come back with that; most everyone at the table had either been angry or embarrassed by his saying that, herself included. To her, Shaam had made himself look very immature and irresponsible by saying that he'd not accept a child that was assured as his.

Duru, the older of Shaam's two living children, had agreed with his father; Kuruk had looked a bit offended by what Shaam said while her father had looked downright pissed over what he had heard. With Kuruk having sired a son—her father—out of wedlock, he had a reason to be offended by what his grandfather had said; her father, who had sired her through a simple affair, also had reason to be angry. The two had accepted the responsibility of non-marital fatherhood and, really, so had Tazir, who had made Lhaklar before it was even known that they were picked by the Gods to be husband and wife. Tazir had really stepped up to the plate of parenthood by not only accepting Bile, and raising him as his, but by also adopting him.

"Some men are just plain jerks when it comes to the paternity of their kids." she thought. "I bet that if I was a man instead of a woman I'd of been dropped like a hot potato by my father."

The men who looked past a child's paternity, and continued raising that child, and even let that child call them their father, were what she called the Golden Boys of the Universe; the ones who didn't do this, or who pushed the children of their partners, or children who had been sired by them but by one-night stand means, weren't. To that day, there were still both classes of men out there and, rather sadly, the Jerks seemed to outnumber the Golden Boys. After hearing a confirmation on how Shaam felt about the issue of illegitimacy, she had automatically placed him in the Jerk category.

With Shaam saying what he had on the issue of illegitimacy, she had grown even more fearful of his hurting Guyunis; Duru agreeing with what he had said had solidified her fear on his also hurting him. Guyunis had gone through so much in his one thousand, nine hundred year existence, he didn't need more added to it or be in jeopardy of his life just because he wasn't of legitimate birth.

"A German couple by the name of Klaus and Agatha Ackermann took him in when he was a fairly new infant; while they treated him well for the first few years, they slacked off on the job after seeing and then learning that he wasn't like a typical human child. Thanks to them and their neglects, he's very lucky to be alive."

Agatha had only fed or cleaned him when she absolutely had to; Klaus had done absolutely nothing for him after finding the chore of taking care of an immortal child as being "so exhausting". They had done this for eighty-seven years then, when they died, their daughter, Edda, and her husband had inherited him. She and Manfred Adenauer had done the same as Agatha and Klaus had; they had had him for seventy-six years before dying. Their daughter, Magda Adenauer, and her new husband, Axel Beckert, were the next couple to take Guyunis on as an adoptive child.

Magda, much like her own mother, had placed the blame on Guyunis for her parents having her at such a late time in their lives; with Agatha Ackermann and Edda both experiencing issues with child-bearing, and with certain issues in their family lives, this claim was very absurd. It didn't matter if the claim was absurd or not because Guyunis was still not treated right after being passed off to Magda. Magda, who had been very fertile, and who had birthed four boys and two girls in her lifetime, had seen Guyunis as nothing special; Guyunis had been forced to live in the shadows of the four boys and two girls that Magda bore for her husband. At the time that Guyunis was inherited by Magda, he hadn't had a name and there had been no effort done to give him a name either—he had either been called That Kid, or The Demon, or Demon Child by the couple and their children. During his time with Magda and Axel Beckert, he had been fed nothing but scraps or spoiled food and he had been forced to sleep in a closet, either on or in a small dog bed, and he had also been given nothing but rags to wear. Magda and Axel Beckert had him for sixty-five years before dying and then passing his charge to their son, Augustus, and his fairly new fiancée, who would later become his wife, Brigitte Egger.

Like with the Ackermann's and Adenauer's, Guyunis had received the same treatment from his newly placed family; along with being given nothing but scraps, or spoiled food to eat, and being forced to sleep in one of the house's closets, and being thrown rags to wear, he had also been thrown outside whenever he cried. The abuse history, that was on record for her new son, claimed that Augustus had thrown Guyunis out several times after he got ill and then started crying because of it. Brigitte had also slapped him one day for finding him in her son's room, playing with his toys and having a blast. Augustus and Brigitte had him for eighty years then, after they died, their daughter, Estelle, had inherited him.

Instead of showering him with love, and instead of accepting him as her child, she had thrown him into a shed and then mostly forgotten about him. It had only been her husband, Konrad Feldt, who took to doing the chore of delivering his food and giving him certain, small items that he could use to dress or keep himself warm with. She and Konrad had him for sixty-three years before the decision was made by the adoption agency to try to return him to his mother.

"I took him in after they died." she thought while continuing with her search for a camp or for the signs of a previously used camping area. "He got everything he needed from me—love, care, good clothing to put on his back and food to eat and gain energy from, socialization with both humans his age and with my sons, and medicine for ailments or injuries that he sustained while running or playing around outside."

After Lisa discovered that she had Guyunis, she came by to see her and to take her son away; he had spent all of five months waiting for a new family in the same orphanage that he had been placed in after being born—a Canadian couple by the name of Leon Patel and Nadja were the ones who adopted him. While the two had shown him some love, and care, they, much like the Ackermann's, stopped doing so after seeing that their new child wasn't growing or maturing like a normal human child did. For most of his tenure with them, he had lived in the basement, behind some boxes; Nadja would throw him his food and drink maybe once or twice a day and would only tend him when she either had to or when he got so fussy that she couldn't sleep. She and Leon had Guyunis for fifty-four years before dying of cancer and then passing him on to the older of their adopted children—Eugenia.

It was much the same for Guyunis with her; Eugenia had shown him some love and care for about five years before dropping him—at the time she did this, she was married to a man named Norbert Tremblay. Guyunis, being the unwanted child that he was, was forced into staying in the smaller of the house's bathrooms and was only given a very ripped up, baggy blue t-shirt to wear. Eugenia and Norbert had him for ninety years; when they died, their son, Dominik, and his overly dominating wife, Else Gagnon, inherited him. Else had gotten her husband to build a small area for Guyunis to "live" in after finding that she was to inherit him—along with it being in the attic, it was a small, five by seven foot space that had nothing but a very tiny mattress in it. Else's orders were for him to be locked in the room and that was what her husband did; along with feeding him the stuff that wasn't eaten by the family two to three times a day, they had abused him verbally and physically. Else had slapped Guyunis for his simply crying, and voicing that his stomach hurt or that he wasn't well, and her husband had punched him once or twice a day for simply making noise when he came up to clean his area—with the 5x7 area having no bathroom in it, it had gotten very filthy and fast after Guyunis was moved into it.

Dominik and Else hadn't had any children of their own so, when they died eighty-seven years after inheriting Guyunis, Dominik's cousin, Elizabeth Henchman, and her husband, Johnathan Wilson, was given the chore of looking after him. They did much the same to him; they had him for a total of seventy-eight years before passing away and then leaving him with no one to inherit him.

Another case of the adoption agency trying to return him to his mother had happened after Elizabeth and Johnathan died; the woman, it was said, had led the boy to his mother and then no more released him before hearing Lisa as screaming for her to get his carcass away from her. The woman, after leading Guyunis to the camels, then putting him on one, had started on her way to taking him back to the orphanage; she had only just started crossing the desert when Guyunis saw her and her sons. Guyunis had wasted no time in jumping from that camel or in running to her; after seeing him, then picking him up, she called her sons over then teleported them home—he had spent two hundred years with them before his mother got wind of his being with them and then making the trip to split him from them and then return him to the orphanage.

He had spent all of a year in the orphanage before being adopted by Gretchen and Michael Ebner; they had had him for forty-five years before perishing in a natural disaster. They had treated him as nothing more than a common butler or handyman all during their years in having him, and they had also forced him to sleep in the far corner of a cold and damp basement. They daughter, Helga Ebner, and her husband, Ernest Eckstein, inherited him after Gretchen and Michael died—things weren't much different with them than with Gretchen and Michael. From what Guyunis had told her, Ernest was a right mean man who seemed to take a great interest and pleasure out of hurting others. Along with being beat with sticks and belts, Guyunis had been forced into being a sort of servant for them—whenever he wasn't working, he was forced into staying in the attic. Helga and Ernest had Guyunis for all of thirty-two years before dying in a plague; the horrid Ulla Durst and Falco Durr received him after they kicked the bucket. Mr. and Mrs. Durr had Guyunis for all of forty-one years—instead of dying, and then passing him off as a sort of inheritance to one of their relatives, Guyunis ran away; he had just had enough of their abuse.

After receiving him at her doormat, then bringing him in, and giving him the care appropriate for him, she had sent him to school. She had had him for four hundred and twenty years before Lisa heard that she had him and was taking care of him; instead of hearing her out, and letting her adopt her child, Lisa had taken Guyunis and then carted him right back to the orphanage. Other than knowing that his surname was Meyer, and that he had been away from her and her family for three hundred and eighty years, she didn't know who had adopted him after he was returned to the orphanage or on what all he had endured by the ones who had taken him on as a son.

Somehow, Guyunis was able to send her a letter; at around the latter part of August, she had received his letter, which had expressed his wanting her help in getting away from the ones that were currently in possession of him, and she had responded to it by going to Lisa and then declaring her as being a shitty parent and then getting her to sign the forms that'd allow her to adopt him. Lisa, though wanting to keep her from "burdening" herself with her son, had relented to her demand—she didn't really care if she lost her as a friend or not; Guyunis was important to her and by the Gods was she ever going to help him and give him the life that he deserved to have.

"H-to-the-R-Man," Hazaar said right when their mother was remembering Guyunis's past. "A week ago, when he did that dream sequence thing in contacting me, he called me that."

"While we were in school, and were exchanging letters between one another, or when we were at home, on vacation from school, he started giving us nicknames." Bile said. "I was B-Man, or B."

"I was L-Man Number 1." Lhaklar said.

"And I was L-Man Number 2." Lazeer said. "We called him G-Man or G."

"We tried to keep them going on after he was taken away... sadly, we outgrew them." Lhaklar sighed.

"My ass! We got on each other's nerves by always using them." Hazaar snapped.

"What should we call him after mom finds and then brings him to our location?" Lazeer asked. "Sh-should we call him by his real name or—"

"Let's call him by his real name until he feels more secure around us." Lhaklar said. He then made a suggestion. "Let's try to keep the immaturity down—we don't want him to be weirded out or anything."

"That means you, Hazaar. Don't make any fights hap—"

"That means all of us, Bile. Not just Hazaar." Lhaklar was fast in cutting Bile off.

"I'm just saying. Out of the four of us, it's Hazaar who—"

"It is not!" Hazaar shot. "I'm a little hot-headed but it's not just me who causes fights to happen."

"You make a majority of the fights happen." Bile pointed out.

"You and Lhaklar fight too." Hazaar said. "So does Lhaklar and Lazeer, and Lazeer and y—"

"All of us fight—we're brothers... we're not suppose to get along all the time." Lhaklar said.

They, in the time that their mother was remembering the events of what happened yesterday, and then Guyunis's past, had forgotten to keep up with the time; they weren't sure now on how long it had been since their mother went off to find their brother. If either of them had said that it felt like forever, they would of all agreed that it did; the cold was now starting to get to them, and so was the anxiety over their waiting for their mother to return.

Lazeer had moved closer to the fire, and Hazaar had put his magazine away—at the moment, he was walking around the area that the fire was lighting. Lhaklar was still where he was; with his stance being the way it was, he almost looked like a mint-green version of the Statue of Liberty. Bile had gotten to his feet once or twice—to stretch his muscles, and to regain the feeling in his legs. While the urge to hunt was strong in him, he was trying to calm it—sadly, he did believe that he was losing the battle.

Due to their being back on Earth, and having no one to show up their parades or anything, they could resume their formerly abandoned activities; he knew that they should settle down somewhere first, and get somewhat accustomed to living with Guyunis before going out to resume their lives, but he did wish to indulge in one of the things that he liked doing.

Ma had no car, so none of them could drive. They had no place to call home, and they didn't know where the closest civilized area was, so it was for the best that they wait a while before trying to make a return to their lives. Lhaklar, he knew, was probably going to get a job and ma... well, he was sure that she'd be getting a job somewhere. Lhaklar, while also wanting to make a return to his formerly forgotten life, and being his old self again, would want to help in taking the burden and stress of the family finances from their ma's shoulders; he'd probably get some opposition for his troubles, and he'd probably do as he did before in going behind her back in getting himself a job, but they'd still appreciate the gesture and his assistance.

"Wonder if we'll be able to achieve a life like that of what he had before we were taken from the planet." Bile wondered.

It had taken them a while to get to where they were before their father took them from the planet; along with it taking several months to get the apartment fixed up to being able to face their daily demands, it had taken months and, sometimes, years for them to feel settle and be accepted by the ones around them. Due to radiation poisoning, and to it being their last-known, Earthly station, they couldn't go back to Green River, Wyoming—they'd have to pick a new place to live in and then start from scratch afterwards.

Was it to be another North American town that they were to live in, or were they to live somewhere else? Along with North America, he had lived in Canada and Egypt—would one or the other of the two, latter locations be picked for them to live in or would they live on another continent? Would their mother pick the place for them to live in or would she let them be involved in their living space? Was it to be a house that they found themselves as moving into, or would they find themselves as living in another apartment and, if so on the apartment, would it have two bedrooms in it—or three or four? Before the place was found, and then secured in their name, would they live off the land, like their mother had before finding herself as being a victim of her father's evil pursuits?

So many questions and none of them had an answer; Bile shook his head to rid himself of the many questions that were bogging him down. After shaking his head, he turned to look at the movement that he had just seen. After gasping, then shooting up from the log, he stomped his foot down; once the ground spear was in his hand, he tore off into the darkness.

His brothers yelled for him to return to them after he disappeared then, when they heard the grunt, and then the squeal of a pig, they became silent. They waited on pins and needles for him to return—when he did, their eyes just about bugged from their faces.

"Geez, Bile! Think you could of caught a bigger pig?" Hazaar gasped after seeing the better than huge wild pig that his brother was dragging into their area.

"Couldn't help myself on this one." Bile said. He felt rather proud of himself; even though he had lost the fight in downing his urge to hunt, he had nabbed an animal that could feed him and his family for days, if not a week to a week and a half. The pig that he was placing before the fire was about five feet long, and it sported some rather impressive tusks on its snout. He set to work on it right away.

While Bile went to collect what he wanted from his pig, and while Hazaar and Lazeer decided to undertake hunts of their own, she was coming across an area where a camp had formerly been at. She was about ten yards from a creek, which, judging by the high, but currently dry, banks, and the water-beaten rocks and roots, was nearly twice its size when the wet season came in. She had started walking along the creek when a feeling gripped her, and told her to turn around and then head in an easterly direction—the clearing, and the makings of a former camp, were seen and then approached three to four minutes later.

It looked a lot like what she had seen on the day that Guyunis snatched her subconscious self from her physical self and then brought it to him. The trees were plentiful, and there were few bushes around the area; what told her that the area had once been a campsite was the fire pit. After approaching the campsite, then going to where the fire pit was, she dropped to a crouch then inspected it—there were small bones, presumably from small animals or fish, in it and, just before her, were a set of prints. Someone had sat and paced before the pit numerous times; when she went to test the prints, she saw that they were a couple of days to a week old. When she went to check into the prints, that led to where two lines of rocks were, she found them to be a day or two old. The ones that she found a few seconds later, which led away from the campsite, were tested as being a couple to several hours old—going by the age of the prints that she had examined, she knew that someone had used the campsite for, presumably, a week and then left somewhat recently.

When she checked to see if the prints that led away from the campsite continued, she found that they didn't—it was like the person, whoever he or she was, had done a jump and then disappeared, which made her feel sad.

"Don't give up—walk around a bit; call out to him, and see if he returns your call, or just walk around until you find another campsite or bump into him." she thought before moving in the direction that the fresher set of prints were pointed towards.

While going in the direction that the fresher set of prints pointed towards, she tripped twice then stumbled once; after finding the former camping area, and then seeing where the prints pointed towards, she dropped the act of simply yelling Guyunis's name—due to how loud her screams were, her sons could probably hear them. For all of five minutes she screamed until her screamer needed a break—by the time it required this break, she came upon another creek. This one was bigger, and was much healthier than the last, and it looked out on a small valley too. In the valley, she saw red deer, wild boar, and plenty of birds; could Guyunis of hunted in this valley or had he just done his hunting in the forest?

She was just wondering this when she found a path then started down it; she had just entered the valley when her legs locked on her. Standing before her was a very beautiful Lynx, that had two cubs either behind or beside her. She and the mother Lynx stared eye-to-eye to one another for a few seconds before the animal turned then moved on—while she wasn't sure, she had a feeling that the animal had spoken to her. It was like the mother Lynx had felt her grief and depression and had said for her to continue in looking for her newly adopted son—she heeded the animal's advice by doing so.

The Black Forest was a big place; it went a length of ninety-nine miles, and its breadth was thirty-seven miles. It consisted of several mountains, and around eight rivers, and there were many creeks and streams in it that kept the land and its wildlife hydrated. It was hard to believe that, some hundreds of years ago, some of it had been cut down for houses—like with the other structures that were built near water sources, like wide creeks and rivers, each of the houses had fallen and the land had crept in to reclaim what had been taken from it. If the houses were still in the area, they were either very unstable or were housing a different type of inhabitant. The Black Forest, after reclaiming what was taken from it, was now a nature reserve—people could come and go, and camp wherever they wished for a week to a month, but they always had to leave the area and leave it in the way that they had found it.

After seeing the Lynx, and her two cubs, off, she resumed the task in going into the valley. Once she was in the valley, she started yelling for Guyunis.

"Guyunis! Guyunis, if you're out there please answer me! I'm sorry that I didn't answer your calls! I'm sorry that I didn't come to you as soon as you contacted me!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

The reason to why she hadn't answered his calls, and why she hadn't made an effort in trying to remember him earlier, and in why their connection had come to be broken, and in why she had abandoned him was yelled into the wind.

The protection amulet, that she had made and then worn, had made her and Guyunis's connection to one another be weakened; Trobrencus's act of praying over the amulet, and then saying a spell over them, had weakened it more while his prayers over her and her sons, and the priest, that Tazir had asked to come bless his home, had done the rest in severing it. Upon returning to the mansion on the late afternoon of January 20, she had felt half there... she had felt like a piece of her was missing, or was taken from her, and she had never put the pieces together on why until after reading Guyunis's letter. Depending on Guyunis, the bond, and the connection that allowed for magic-conjured contact to occur, would return and be strong again in time.

While walking along, yelling for Guyunis, and yelling out an explanation on why she hadn't responded to his contacts, she cursed herself. No, letting the stress and pressure that she had felt since moving back to Moas get to her was an excuse—she should of known who Guyunis was from the start; with her having raised him on three separate occasions, and for hundreds of years at a time, she should of been able to recognize him. There was no one else in the Universe who had midnight black skin and glowing yellow eyes that were shaped like scalene triangles—being that he was three hundred and eighty years older than what she remembered him as being, he would be a bit changed but not by much. Guyunis wasn't one thousand, five hundred, and twenty years old anymore; he was a big, strong, nineteen hundred year old. Why didn't she fight Tazir off on that day when he took them from the planet, and why hadn't she gotten on him to get the people that he had invited to his place to get their shit together, and to pipe down and leave her and her children alone, or leave?

She had let Tazir take her and her sons from Earth; she had let him take them from the life that they had lived for so long; and she had let him make the decision on whether their sons continued doing the things that they had done when they had been on Earth. With her letting Tazir do all of that, she had also let him take her from Guyunis—this, in itself, caused her to feel anger towards both of them.

Tazir had said that he was going to take her and any and all children that she had birthed over the years back home with him after she and her biological children were in his ship; instead of doing that, he had kept her from accepting and then taking Guyunis into her home and having him become apart of her family. He had forced her to eat the Jaiboa just to keep her from going to Earth; he had placed a call to a priest, who agreed to bless his house; and he had come close to grounding Hazaar after he reacted to Guyunis's attempt in trying to get in contact with him.

"Guuuuuuyuuuuuniiiiisssss!" she screamed at the top of her lungs after reaching the valley's other side and then going to where a hill was.

Guyunis's name had a loud echo to it for a bit before dying out; Angel, after it died out, stepped from the hill then went into the forest that flanked the valley's other side. She walked for the longest of time, not saying anything or shouting Guyunis's name. When she reached an area where there were three, tall trees, she stopped then shouted the name of the person that she was hoping to find; again, the name echoed throughout the forest around her before dying out. An eerie quiet filled the area, which caused her to pop out in goosebumps and start feeling the cold around her. Her throat made a clicking sound after she swallowed; her eyes, despite the chill that the wind had to it, refused to blink; and her every muscle quivered as she listened to the quiet around her.

Other than the unknown birds, wolves, owls, red deer, red squirrels, Lynx, and wild boar, what all called this part of the forest home? Was the quiet stemming from one of the unknown animals being out, and on the prowl for something to eat, and was she being targeted by one of them animals as a potential food source?

Except for knowing that there was a soft soil under her feet, and trees that looked like that of what she had seen during the event of Guyunis taking her subconscious self from her conscious self being present and accounted for, and the sound of another water source being nearby, she knew nothing of the area around her or of its inhabitants. This lack of knowledge caused her to feel anxious about leaving her sons where they were; was there a possibility that Guyunis wasn't here? Could Lhaklar of mistaken the area, or could she be in the wrong part of the forest? The only reason to why she was here was because of the trees that she had seen—the Norway spruce, Douglas fir, Scots pine, and European silver fir. Could she of mistaken them trees for being what they were when, in reality, they were a different type of tree?

Angel took a step to the side then, from out of the bushes, that were somewhere to her right side, she saw a rather lovely, white-bodied cat that had black spots and stripes on its coat. The cat looked at her, then wiggled its nose, then loped off for some other area. The area's quiet resumed after the animal was gone; it remained quiet for a few seconds before she decided to take in a breath and then try again in calling out for her son.

" _Guuuuuuuuyyyyyyyuuuuuunnnniiiiiisssssss!"_

"Whaaaaaat?" Angel jumped after hearing the too-close reply to her scream. When she turned towards the area where the response seemed to be coming from, which was directly behind her, her heart started slamming in her chest. The fear, that had her in its grasp, was there for only a second before dissipating; she came very close to sighing after seeing the one that she was looking for stepping out from behind a tree.


	39. Chapter 39

If not for the near-two months that he had endured, he would of rushed to her and then grabbed her in a big hug; he felt no urge in doing this or in having her anywhere near him. Anger coursed through his body after he saw who it was that was calling him. For a fleeting second, he wondered why she was here, and looking for him, and where her four biological sons were; after the anger started to swell within him, he forgot all about this wondering—with his limited connection to her and her sons being completely and inexplicably severed, he felt no need or desire to have her or them around him.

On the twentieth of January, after he sat down to "feast" on a piece of Roe deer, which he had slaved to cook, and which he had been looking forward to eating, he had come to be so sickened that he had thought himself stricken with some sort of virus or parasite. The piece of meat, that had just been put in his mouth, was shot out; due to how dizzy and queasy he was for the eight to nine hours that followed, he hadn't been able to take anything down. Though able to take down food and drink after the nine-hour mark was over, he had still been sick—in all, it had taken him all of five days to feel well again; since he hadn't known if he was truly over his bout of illness or not, he had used the following day as a simple relaxer. On January 27, he had found himself well and able-bodied enough to try to contact them—after finding that his attempts were all for nothing, and that the bond and connection between them, that'd enable them to contact one another via magic and earnesty, was severed, he had grown angry.

With his finding the bond and connection between them as being severed, he had grabbed a piece of paper, and then a pen, and then started writing out a letter. It had taken him several times to settle his hand, and to calm himself enough to write on that piece of paper—a few more pieces of paper had been needed; due to his wanting to ensure that he'd not bother them again, he had wanted to make the letter be as formal as could be, but also have the feelings that he felt in it too.

From December 20 to January 20 he had tried his best to get in contact with them, and see what was going on and see what all he could do in helping them from their situation; finding himself as being permanently banned from contacting them had hurt as much as it had angered him. He saw no reason in their blocking their mode of magic-conjured contact to him and he saw no reason in their distancing or abandoning him either. After finishing his letter, he sent it off then got his camp ready for moving; everything was up and somewhat packed in four hours time, and he was on his way to a new area about thirty minutes to an hour later.

"Take this you worthless pig." he remembered the woman, who was his former mutter, saying on the day that he left her and her husband's house. She, who had just come into the attic, had thrown a manila envelope at him before turning to leave; this happened on the fourth of December, right when most were getting ready to eat lunch. After opening that envelope, then spilling its contents over his old, and very much used up mattress, he had taken them up and then read them.

Lenora Falkenrath, or the Bitch from Hell, as he called her in secret, had promised him trouble with her husband, Mathis Meyer Jr., right after that envelope was thrown; with he being curious about its contents, he hadn't worried about the "trouble" that he was to endure by the hands of the bastard who was the Bitch from Hell's husband. Not once had he received mail... even while living with the one who was before him now, who was technically his new mum, he hadn't received mail—unlike the others who had had him as their wards, the one before him had let him mess around with the mail that was received, and she had also let him play "mailman" when he was a kid too.

After seeing the forms, and then giving them a once-over, he had been somewhat confused before, finally, feeling very excited. Finally, after all these years, he was to be adopted by someone who had shown him love and compassion in the past and, finally, he was to be away from the ones who liked to act like a slave driver or master. After seeing that Lenora Falkenrath and Mathis Meyer Jr. weren't his adopted mum and dat anymore, and that he was free of their overbearing attitudes and of the life that they chose for him to live, he had yelled in happiness, and then started crying over realizing that he was as free as a bird that had been let loose from its cage.

Former Adoption Family: Mathis Meyer Jr. and Lenora Falkenrath  
Time of Adoption: 09:12:45 p.m., November 20, 4079—child inherited due to Mathis Meyer Sr. and Monika Graf's passing.  
New Adoption Family: Angel Irene  
Time of Adoption: 10:45:09 a.m., September 1, 4099  
Notes: Lisa Ann Walhberg, the birth mother of Guyunis Meyer, the child who's undergoing adoption, signed papers saying that Mathis Meyer Jr. and Lenora Falkenrath are no longer in charge of her son; in the same papers, she signed the parental rights over to Angel Irene, a friend of hers.

After throwing the forms in the air, then yelling for joy, then crying his eyes out, he started thinking. Three hundred and eighty years of hell was about to end; the whole vain of his existence, where most of the people who took him on as a child didn't act like parents, or treat him in the way that they should, was about to come to a close. He was no longer to be treated like something one wouldn't dare step or walk on, or be treated more like a servant or unpaid butler than one's child—the act of his being treated like someone who mattered was about to begin.

After having his episode, he grabbed the closest thing to him, which was nothing more than a plain, old jean bag, and then started filling it with the items that were his. The four pairs of pants, his holey socks, and his material possessions were all shoved in first before he went to put the envelope, and its forms, in it—unlike the other items, he had been very careful in putting this in the bag. With himself packed and ready to go, he had turned his attention to the chains that bound him to the attic.

The envelope came in just before lunch was served in the Meyer household; the usual event of his being marched upstairs, to the attic, and then being chained to the attic beams, was done just before the mailman swung in to deliver the mail. He, after turning his attention to the chains, and then grabbing and giving them a yank, had watched as they fell towards him. Seeing as he didn't want to waste any time in taking the chains from himself, he decided to take them with him; he had only just gotten them wrapped around his neck, shoulders, and chest when Mathis started his ascent up the stairs, and he had just taken the jean bag up from the floor when Lenora's yell for her husband to hurry before he missed lunch was heard.

"And where the hell do you think you're going, Demon?" Mathis Meyer Jr., a man who was fat, ugly, overly-grumpy, and very mean, and who had grown rich after his fader died, said after seeing him as leaving the attic.

"To freedom you shriveled up old cock," he replied. "Your time with having-k me be your slave is over—I've jus-k-t been given a new family."

"Head your black ass back into the attic now, Demon Brat." Mathis Meyer Jr. spat. The black belt, that he was a frequent user of, was shown and then swung menacingly. "I'll use this on you if you don't."

"Use i-k-t on my backside as I walk out of this hell house of yours." he spat back.

The big house, that sat on a big plot of land in the country, was left behind; all while leaving it, he had had Mathis at his backside—the belt had been used on him time and again all while he was leaving the place. After leaving the house, that he had been ordered to keep neat and tidy while the Meyer's did nothing but grow fat and more richer with their inheritance and lotteries and everything else that they owned, he ran to the nearest town. The chains were tidied up a bit before the forms were removed from their envelope and then given a better than fine checking—after seeing the address of 14235 Forest Hill Dr., Green River, Wyoming on the forms, he had teleported. From Wächtersbach, which was located in the district of Main-Kinzig-Kreis, which was in Hesse, Germany, to Green River, Wyoming he had gone.

He had expected for a warm welcome, full of hugs, and some teary eyes, and maybe a few kisses, to happen after getting to the address; what he had gotten was far from warm. After entering the residence that sat on the address that was listed on one of his forms, he had found it to be completely devoid of life.

"One of the winter-major holidays that's very popular over on this continent just came to a close; maybe they went out to see some people and are still with them." he had thought after having an episode in yelling for them to come out from their hiding places and then stop the "voice" from saying the things that it was. "Make yourself at home, and keep the place well until they return—the "festivities" will happen right after they come in to find the place all warm and in good order."

He had resided in that apartment for all of a week and three days before saying fuck it and they're obviously not coming back; his anger had taken a-hold of him after he said that. After packing his things, then taking his bag up, then getting to where the apartment's door was, he exploded—the residence, along with some of the ones that were close to it, was destroyed right after he did so. His anger hadn't dropped any when he reached the nearby spit of land that was called an island—after around twenty or so minutes of getting there, he exploded again, which caused the island to go up in flames and be destroyed too.

After destroying the apartment, and then the island, he went to a different town—one that was in the neighboring state of Colorado, and one where he had grown to be very ill in for all of four days before being well again. All while being ill, he had been bitter and angry; all sorts of bad thoughts had happened, as had a lot of confusion. He had cried a lot too. Only when he saw the article, that stated that his new family was missing, and had been missing since before December 4, did his anger die and his concern grow. In a way, he wouldn't be but so surprised to find that, during his illness, he had reached out to one of his new family members and then shown him the events that happened with the apartment and the island.

Once well enough to try magic, he had searched out and then done a Transparency Possession on his mutter—along with being able to see her, and see that she was okay, he had been able to speak with her; their conversation lasted for a short span of under a minute before their connection was "pulled" by some unknown, but living, presence.

"My hopes soared after seeing that they were alive, but I grew very angry after hearing that they were "taken" from the planet. I saw them as being held captive, and I tried to help them in escaping only to have my attempts either thwarted or evaded by them." he thought while trying to retain his anger.

After searching and then doing a lock on his mutter's energies, he did a half-teleportation to where she was—while his time in her location was brief, he had seen her and he had grown confused after doing so. Instead of finding her as being in a cell, or in a dungeon of some sort, or even being half or fully naked from being raped by her captors, he had found her as leaving a tall, dark structure that looked eerily like a castle. He had gone towards her after she got into a vehicle, and then started driving away—he hadn't been able to stop her from doing so. His attempt in "rescuing" her was thwarted by her actions; seeing her as leaving the structure, and the fear that she had disclosed towards him, was what caused him to be confused.

With his needing answers on what was going on, he had targeted Lazeer, his youngest bruder, next. A form of Astral Projection was done on him—he had simply called out to him, in hopes of his answering and recognizing him and his voice—before another half-teleportation was done. After getting to the area that his bruder was in, then going to where he was, he had simply stated the obvious on his being his bruder and on his finding the apartment empty and himself abandoned; with his bruder being as scared as he was, he had made the decision to stop the mode of contact—with Lazeer being his youngest bruder, he had seen reason in him being scared of what was going on.

The following day, he went to concentrate on Lhaklar, his second oldest bruder—he had, unknowingly, used Dream-based Possession and had already been using Image Projection on him; after discovering himself as doing the latter mode of contact he had decided to warp the mirror and then do a 2-D contact, which was only able to be done when mirrors were involved and which were only able to be done when the one doing them was 100% healthy.

In a way, he had found himself as being quite shocked over Lhaklar's reaction to his attempt in contacting him. He saw Lhaklar as the more mature and logical one of his bruders; instead of being mature and logical with him, and speaking with him after noticing that he was contacting him, he had yelled and then ran from him.

To his knowledge, people who were being held captive were kept in one area; they weren't given or allowed to have rooms, that were full of enrichment-like stuff, and they weren't allowed to move about freely or drive cars while being unsupervised. At the time that he did a Reverse Astral Projection on his mum their line of connection was weakened by some force that he was able to sense but not see. While the move in using that mode of contact worked in having her see his activities after he went to the adoption agency it hadn't gained the result that he had wanted; the connection that he had between himself and his new family was inexplicably weakened after he used this mode of contact on her.

Ten days after using Reverse Astral Projection on her, he tried to do it again—due to their connection being weakened, he hadn't been able to engage her in conversation; he had been able to hear some of what she said but no form of conversation had been able to be done between them. After sending her spiritual self back to her physical body, then using normal Astral Projection to travel to her, he had tried to evict the force that was weakening their connection—while he had managed to evict something from her he hadn't been able to strengthen their connection. If anything, he had weakened it.

After contact with his mum, Bile, Lhaklar, and Lazeer didn't follow through he latched onto Hazaar, who was older than Lazeer but still younger than he—rather interestingly, he had found himself as having already contacted him; he had simply used the same mode that he had found himself as using on the eleventh of January. The mode of Shadow Projecting, which was an ability where one contacted another by showing the actual happenings of one's life through manipulated shadows, was done for all of five days before another Dream-based Possession was used; Hazaar, while being a little nervous and anxious, hadn't reacted or even tried to get back in contact with him after certain bits of his life were shown to him. Another Reverse Astral Projection was done, this time on Hazaar instead of on his mutter; while hearing from his bruder, they had had a very limited connection—he had tried to correct this by forcing the connection to return, which had had disastrous results.

"The day following my contact with Hazaar, and finding that the bridge, that allows us to connect, and be in contact with one another through magical means, was very weak, and then trying to strengthen it only to fail in doing so, I found that my line of connection with them was gone." he thought while moving into the sliver of moonshine that was falling between the naked branches of the trees.

The severing of connection to them was so fierce... he hoped to never go through it again and, honestly, he was almost afraid of having any other bridges, that allowed him to connect and then do magic-conjured contact with another, form between him and another living person. While getting over his illness, he had thought about what had happened to him and he had thought about what he was to do now. He had no family to go home to, and no one to talk to or lean on.

The orphanage was out; the people that ran the facility claimed that they couldn't help him because of his age, which was crazy. He wasn't a grown-up, like the lady that ran the orphanage thought he was; even though he had said that he wasn't an adult, and had explained the best he could on how old he was, and on his still being a teenager, she had still insisted that, due to his having a one and a nine in his age, he was one. He was only just getting by in bringing down what he was, and in not getting killed in the process; he had gotten sick several times after drinking water from streams or creeks that was contaminated with parasites, bacteria, and chemicals; and he had gotten cold on certain nights due to his not not knowing how to keep a fire lit. Really, the act of his making camp was only barely known to him—it took him five hours just to get the area clear of debris, and to get the sheet thrown over a branch and then securely weighted down with rocks, and to make the fire pit and then light a fire in it. He was managing, but only barely.

There was no way in hell that he was going to mingle in with the damn, rotten, ungrateful, uncaring, greedy humans; he wasn't about to look in the classifieds, to see if anyone was looking for a roommate, and he wasn't about to go to work for anyone who thought he was all that and a bag of chips either.

He didn't know how to pay the bills, or how to drive a car, or do the organizing for the food pantry shopping; while he barely knew how to cook, he did know how to repair a house, and keep it neat and tidy—this was about it for him. An adult would know these things; they would of had it taught to them by their mummies and datties... He hadn't been taught these things and, going by what he had gone through seven days ago, he was probably never going to learn them because the one who was his "mutter" had up and abandoned him.

The reason to why he had come to the area that he was now at was because of her, and her blasted screams. With his having to pull double-time in finding a suitable camping area, and in getting his new camp set-up, he had been exhausted; after dropping to the bed of sticks and leaves, that he had painstakingly made for himself some hours ago, he had started crying—he had practically cried himself to sleep, that was how stressed out and emotional he was over his current position. He had slept for a short while before the sound of someone yelling was heard. After saying that it was nothing more than a trick of the wind, he dropped his head back to his makeshift bed then tried to go back to sleep—his eyes had no more been shut before the scream, and his name echoing from the trees around him, was heard. Another attempt in playing it off on the wind was done; he rolled over to his side, then curled up in fetal position, then tried to go back to sleep only to be prevented from doing so again—with the second scream being louder, and the echo of his name bouncing from the area around him being stronger, he had gotten up and then gone in the direction that he thought it was coming from.

Other than Mathis Meyer Jr. and his wife, no one knew his name, or even knew that he existed; finding his name as being called, and quite urgently too, had been a shock while finding a human, standing in the dead-center of a beaten path, had been even more of a shock. With his seeing the human as being of the female gender, and then seeing that she was none other than the one who had adopted him only to abandon him, that shock had turned to anger. With his reason in being away from camp satiated, he turned to leave the area and the one that was in it.

"Wait! Guyunis, wait!"

"You made your poin-k-t a week ago," Guyunis replied. "You don't need to be here."

"I do need to be here," Angel said. She started forward before putting a stop to her progress; when Guyunis turned to look at her, she only needed to see the look, that was in his eyes, to know that he was angry. "Guyunis, I'm sorry. I d—"

"Sure you are. All you humans are alike. You do something-k then you say you're sorry af-k-ter the hurt's been done." Guyunis snapped. "I suppose you're going-k to do the usual—do a half-assed explanation on why you up and ran, and on why you played this sick joke of only adopting-k me to abandon me."

"No, Guyunis. What I did was wrong. I shouldn't of—"

"You of all people! I expec-k-ted better! I... I was expecting for you to be there, and for you t-k-o love me," Guyunis fought the tears that threatened to escape him. "All my life I've been treated like shit by everyone but you. You've been the only one to show me any real love and yet you abandoned me."

"Guyunis, I didn't really abandon you. I was t—"

"Can the shit! I know bet-k-ter—you and them real sons of yours were no more held cap-k-tive than a caged rat. All of you had a life of lu-k-xury... captives don't have that. Captive folk are thrown in dungeons—they're not g-k-iven rooms tha-k-t have mirrors in them, or are allowed to drive around in cars."

"I wasn't taken captive, my... my husband found me and my sons. He took us away from the planet. Away from you." Angel said.

"Bullshit! You never had a husband before. You—"

"I left my husband over a thousand years ago, baby. I left him after my father threatened to take me from your brothers." Angel said. "He was searching for sixteen years for us, and he found us a little over four months ago. We were taken from the planet on the twenty-fifth of November."

"If this is true then where is this so-called husband of yours?"

Angel looked at the youngster that was before her; in person, he looked none like what she had seen in the near-apparition or from when her spiritual self was yanked from her physical body and then brought to him. The pinwheel-like arms were gone; the arms that had replaced them were thickly muscled, and were rather healthy. The thin legs, that had no muscle on them, had been replaced by a pair that were strongly muscled. The thin chest had been replaced by one that was big and well-muscled—due to how well-muscled he was on this part of his body, she was able to see veins. Thanks to the remnants of the hoodie that he was wearing, she wasn't able to see how changed he was in the face—was the hair still black, and long and was the face still gentle, and boy-like, or was it strong and teenage-like in appearance?

His five foot, eight and a half inch frame had also been replaced; he now stood six foot, three and a half inches, and he was still growing at that! With the exception of his hoodie, he was wearing a pair of jeans, that were lacking their lower legs, and a pair of heavy-duty boots. The chains, that he wore around his neck, shoulders, and chest, looked to be a little too tight on him; his pants looked to be held up by a chain belt, which was connected to the length of chain that hung down from his chest and stomach.

Like in all of his contacts with her, he had a nasal-like voice that was low and cracking like that of a boy who was going through or nearly exiting puberty. His eyes, though bright and healthy, were held in an angered sort of way. When he crossed his arms over his chest, he took on the stance that his father was frequently known to exhibit—his legs were even held slightly apart, just like his father's would be when he adopted the stance that his son was currently doing. The nails that were on the fingers weren't like his father's at all; they were a dark gray color, and were cracked. She saw no hint of ear on him—with her having him before her now, and with her remembering who he was, she knew that he had no external ears on him.

Seeing as he was so angry with her, and so doubtful of what she was telling him, she reached into the front left pocket of her pants. After taking a trip to the bathroom, then transforming into a mouse so she could get into the room that Tazir kept all of the stuff pertaining to his search for her and the boys, she had taken two newspaper articles, one that had been written on her and her son's disappearance and the other that had been written after she and her sons were successfully retrieved from Earth; she took these two newspaper articles from her pocket, then created a small flame in the palm of her free hand, then went towards the one who was standing before her.

Almost at once, Guyunis made a throaty sound after seeing her as coming towards him; he was fast in putting some distance between them.

"Guy, if you won't believe me then maybe you'll believe these." she held the two newspaper articles out to him. He did nothing but angle his head down at them.

"What are they?"

"They're newspaper articles... on my and my sons' disappearance, and of—"

"Psssshaw, you can't believe wha-k-t's written in the papers. They get things wrong all the time, and they make up lies jus-k-t to—"

"Not these, Guy. These speak the truth."

"Douse tha-k-t foul flame of yours—I don-k-t want to read any article that you have or tha-k-t you want to show me." Guyunis said rudely.

"Guy—"

"And quit calling me that!" Guyunis snapped. "You named this not-wanted child Guyunis not Guy."

"You _are_ wanted," Angel said while pocketing the two newspaper articles. While she was surprised over being snapped at, she had, in a few ways, expected it. "Guyunis, I'm really sorry for not being there when you showed up, and I'm really sorry for not knowing who you was. It's been over three hundred years... you've changed a lot since I last seen you."

"You think I'm going to believe that!" Guyunis shouted. Angel took a step back before standing her ground. "You raised me for several hundred years—you should of known who I was from the start!"

"I should of, yes. I and—"

When Guyunis turned, then started to walk away from her, she followed him; after seeing that he wasn't listening to her explanation on what happened to their connection, and after following him a short ways, she stopped. The boy, who was her adopted son, walked on while she reached her hand into the right pocket of her pants for the cash that she had on her. After having the two wads in her hand, then unrolling them, she resumed her following.

Before leaving Tazir's place, she had made a trip to his office for some bills; she knew where his safe was, and she knew what its combination was—her husband had shown and then told her both as a security thing right after Lhaklar turned three years old. Her husband had wanted her to know the location and combination to his safe for emergency reasons, and he had also wanted to show her that he trusted her too. After taking the photograph of their children down from the wall, then dialing the safe's combination, then opening its door, she withdrew $400 from it. All of it had gone into her pocket.

Guyunis was the only reason to why she had the money on her; she had told herself that, if he didn't want her to be his mother or guardian, she might as well give him a little something that'd help him along before a new family was found for him by the agency that handled his adoptions.

"Guyunis, I'm sorry for hurting you. Have you been in contact with the agency that—"

"The bitch tha-k-t runs the foul place says that I'm on my own—she says tha-k-t, since I've go-k-t a one and a nine in my age, I'm an adul-k-t." Guyunis answered while continuing on.

"Do you know of anyone who'll take you in?" Angel asked. She trotted along until she was two steps behind Guyunis. "A friend or—"

"I'm not staying-k with any of these blas-k-ted humans anymore. They cause nothing but trouble, and pain."

"Y-you're going to stay on your own then? You're not accepting me as your new guardian?"

"Hell no! Why the hell would I accept you as my mutter?" Angel ran right into Guyunis after he stopped and then wheeled around. After running into him, she backed a few steps from him—to give him some space. He was more than a little angry; just by her running into him, she had been able to detect that he was like a raging volcano. "You abandoned me! Why the hell would I wan-k-t someone like you being my mutter?"

The world around her stopped moving; it seemed that the planet stopped its roll on its axis, and it seemed that the wind had stopped blowing and the animals had stopped doing and making their sounds. Her heart hurt. She nearly started crying after hearing that he didn't want her to be his parent.

With Guyunis's wish disclosed, she gave him the cash that was in her hand; Guyunis responded by doing nothing more than looking at what she had given him. He gave no indications on his being surprised, or of softening up towards her—with his being as angry as he was, she wouldn't be surprised if he balled the cash up, or tore it up, or threw it to the ground. With the money now in his possession, she backed slowly away from him. The fight in keeping her tears from falling was nearly lost when she turned then started walking away from him.

"What's this?" Hush money? Forgive me or forget this money?" Guyunis asked to her backside. He still sounded angry to her.

"A gift from me—something to help you get on your feet." Angel replied after stopping and then turning halfway around. "I ac-cept that you don't want me as your new guardian. What I did was wrong and ah-I'm very sorry for doing it. I'm sorry for hurting you, Guyunis. The least I can do is give you some money that'll help you get on your feet."

She walked away and he, in a way, was glad; in a rather confusing twist of events, he also found himself as wishing that she'd stay where she was. What really confused him was the money that she had given him—along with not expecting it, he was expecting for it to be only twenty or so dollars. He was quite ready to go; he was loaded with cash—$10,000 worth was safely secure in his camp, in his jean bag, between his pants and CD player. He had gotten it all from selling the jewelry that he had taken from Lenora Meyer. Lenora and her husband were right wealthy, and could afford just about anything; whenever Mrs. Snob-Lenora Meyer left a piece of jewelry lying about, she either ignored it or forgot about it. Whenever she found herself as lacking a piece of jewelry, she'd call her husband, who'd either get her an exact replacement for what was missing or get her something that was better or even more expensive than what was missing.

With Lenora and her husband chaining him up in their attic, and with their day-in to day-out abuse of him, and talking him down whenever they saw chance in doing so, and forcing him to do the chores in their home, he had seen the jewelry thefts as a sort of payment for his "services" and as a reparation for their treatment.

Whenever it came time for him to be fed, one of the Meyer kids would come up with the table scraps; it'd be thrown into the attic and, with his being chained up in said attic, he hadn't been able to get to it. Most of the time, it landed either just beyond or way beyond his reach. Only by slipping out from his bonds had he been able to get what they had given him to eat. Sometimes, when the kids threw the food into the attic, it didn't land just beyond or way beyond his reach—it painted the wall or it splashed against him. When they weren't looking, he'd sneak food from their refrigerator, and cabinets—he'd either stuff what he took into his mouth and then nearly choke himself to death in swallowing it or he'd take it to the attic and then stash it away until later.

A pair of diamond earrings, several diamond necklaces and bracelets, and more than two gold and silver necklaces had been taken from Lenora; it'd be stashed in one of the boxes that the Meyer's never bothered to look in right after it was taken. It wasn't until fairly recently that he had taken to selling what he had taken from her.

After standing around, looking every which way, then fingering the cash that was in his hand, he started counting; he started the process of counting the first wad's contents half-heartily before getting serious. Two, twenty dollar bills met his eyes first, then came a $50 and two, $100 bills. He was rather surprised over the first wad's contents—the fiery red-haired woman, who was his new adoptive mutter, had given him $270... or, as far as he could tell, that was. After counting the first wad of cash, he counted the next.

All while counting this wad of cash, he started to wonder why the money had been given to him; from what he had learned, people who hurt or abandoned others didn't give monetary gifts. Why had the woman, who was his new adoptive mum, done so?

"Wh... da... what!" he stared in silent awe after seeing that the second wad of cash had two fifty and three ten dollars bills in it. After doing a quick calculation on what he had in his hand, he came up with $400, which did more than shock the hole-filled socks from his feet. The woman, who had adopted him only to abandon him, had gifted him $400 in tens, twenty's, fifty's, and hundred dollar bills. Was this what she had said it was—apology money—or was it something else—like a gift of love or both an apology and a gift of love?

While rolling the money into a single wad, he remembered that she had been holding back tears while giving him what he had; people who abandoned others didn't cry, or express many emotions, and they didn't give monetary gifts either so... what was going on here?

Guyunis placed the money, that he had been given, into the lone-remaining pocket on his pants then looked up and around. If he remembered correctly, she had gone in a westerly direction; while he couldn't see her anymore he was able to see the hint of a red glow in the distance. After seeing this glow, he went towards it. Only when it started growing faint did he break into a trot, and then into a full blown run. He ran over flat land, then jumped over two logs, before coming to a stop after seeing that she was right in front of him.

The lump, that was welling up in his throat, was forced down just enough so he could speak.

"Wait," he said loud enough for all to hear. Even though she stopped, he said it again. "Please, wait."

"G...?" Angel said after turning and then looking Guyunis in the eye.

The tear-trails, that were on her face, were very clear and able to be seen; to him, they glistened like diamonds, and had a mystical feeling to them. He very nearly cracked after seeing them. While trying to retain his composure, he reached into the pocket that the money was in. When the wad of cash was in his hand, and was out of his pocket, he withdrew it then held it out to her.

"No," Angel said while gently pushing his hand back. "You keep that. If you're going to be on your own, you will need it."

"But I don't want it." Guyunis said.

"You will need it, Guyunis." Angel said while stepping away from him. When she was a few feet from him, she turned then started walking away.

"W-won't you need it?" Guyunis asked. He started following her. "F-for Bile an-and L—"

"You need it more than us." Angel replied.

"I d... stop!" Guyunis said loudly. He stopped following her; when she continued to walk away, he said it again. "Stop! Please, stop!"

She did but for only a second; when she turned to look at him, she saw something that made her heart beat faster. The boy's eyes, though still being very bright, were full of defeat—the feeling of love, and confusion, was coming from him very prominently. While she wanted to go to him, and tell him that all was fine and that he had nothing to worry about, she didn't—he would have to make the motion in wanting her to do that; she couldn't rely on plain impulses with him right now.

The money was what he was probably the most confused about; she hadn't given him the money without probable cause. She loved him and she wanted to help him in getting on his feet. She wasn't here to tell him to leave her and her biological sons be; she wasn't here to claim the things that had been taken from her sons; she wasn't here to be angry or to yell at him. Despite his not wanting her as his guardian and mother, she still loved him—this, she knew, wasn't to change anytime soon. He could go off on his own, or be taken in by some other family, and she'd still love him.

With his having lived with her in the past, he knew that she had a temper; people who had red hair were known to have a relatively thin patience and a short fuse—while she had a lot of patience, and while her temper wasn't hair trigger-like, she did have a temper that'd make one either cringe or shiver. Despite her temper, she had never hurt one of the children in her house nor had ever thought about doing so. Whenever discipline was given, she'd use her words and a dish towel; no weapons were used and she didn't act out or even put the one that she was mad with down. She knew that not only did he know this but that he had experienced it—on the several occasions where she had gotten on him for something, or had disciplined him, she had only used normal words and a towel; nothing else was ever nor would ever be used on him by her. The boy before her knew well what wrong discipline was and he also knew how mean and cruel certain people could be, which was a damn shame because he was a fine boy who didn't deserve or need to know or go through what he had.

"I..." he swallowed hard before going on. "I don-k-t want to be on my own."

"No one really wants to be on their own, sweetie." Angel replied.

"I... I want to be with someone tha-k-t... that will show me what I haven't had in so long." Guyunis gave a hard swallow. "I wan-k-t a family, you know. I'm... I'm not an adul-k-t."

"I can speak it out with the agency that handles your adoptions, or find you a new agency to handle your adoptions. It's hard not being a human—we live far longer than they, and we mature slower than they."

"I don-k-t want a new family." Guyunis said in a half-strain. He looked down for a second before locking his eyes on her own. "I... I want... I want you!"

The animals around them started making their sounds almost at the same time that Guyunis broke down; Angel looked at the youth as he cried—he stood on his feet for a second before dropping to knees. He was only on his knees for two seconds before she rushed forward.

After reaching his downed self, she wrapped her arms around him then held him close; he pushed his arm against her for a few seconds before wrapping it around her. The other followed a split second later. His hug started out shy; he was slow in tightening his arms around her, and he was slow in placing his head against her shoulder. In all, it took a minute to a minute and a half before their embrace was a full one and that he was crying into her shoulder.

The hug given to her was very affectionate and emotion-filled; she could detect that he needed support and warmth and she gave it to him. At first, he cried into her shoulder then he moved his head down to the crook of her arm—after seeing that she wasn't pushing him away, and was giving him what he both needed and wanted, he let his tough resolve and anger go. She was gentle in patting his shoulders, which were rising and falling with his sobs, and she spoke to him—no words of his calming down, or in his putting an end to his sobbing, were said. She let him cry into the crook of her arm before gently moving him to her shoulder again; her shirt, from the sleeve on up to the shoulder, was wet with his tears but she didn't mind it. She let him cry out his emotions, and his torment, all while giving him what he needed and wanted to have.

When he started to calm down, he lifted his head from her shoulder; he looked at her, blinked his eyes twice, then gave the area around him a small checking. She, in that moment in time, couldn't help herself. She leaned in then kissed his forehead; he blinked his eyes again after she did this then he returned his head to the shoulder that he had cried into.

"Where's your camp, baby?" Angel asked.

"Half mile east of here, mum." Guyunis replied.

It was a little while before she and Guyunis got to their feet; when they were finally on their feet, she followed him as he took her to the camp. While following him, she noticed that he'd periodically turn his head, to see if she was following him or not—after doing this for the fifth time, she moved up to walking alongside him.

As they walked along, she took note of the scars that were on his arms, chest, and shoulders. They were deep, and not all of them had been made by claws either; going by the puncture marks, that were present on his shoulders and upper arms, she knew that he had also been bitten by something—one of the animals that he had done a dangerous hunt for, perhaps. She was sure that she'd be able to take care of the puncture marks, and some of the smaller scars, with her powers but she wasn't sure about the deeper scars that were present on him. It was quite sad that one her son's age would have scars like that of what he harbored on himself would have to live with what he had on himself forever. Bile had two or three scars on his arms and legs from his hunts, and so did Lhaklar, but Guyunis had them beat in the hunt-created scars department. Seeing these scars, and noting that some would remain on him, made her feel guilty and angry at herself all over again—if not for her "settling in" on Moas, and with her husband and Eshal, he wouldn't have them marks on his body. He'd be as fine as pie if not for her and her sons being taken from Earth and then being resettled on Moas.

The owls and wolves looked to of gone crazy with their hooting and howling; it seemed that the deer were crashing about everywhere; and the other bird and wildlife that called the area home were flying or running to their holes, or were just plain running from some unknown force that wasn't able to be seen. In a way, when they reached the area that her son's camp was in, she was glad—the animals, after they stepped into the area, grew quiet and the area grew very still. It was like they had grown tired of being mad or frenzy-like, or cheering them on as they went to where they were going. She was glad that the tension, that had been caused by their frenzied actions, was gone and she had a feeling that Guyunis felt the same way.

When they reached where they were going, she told her son to go and get his stuff packed; while he packed, and dismantled his camp, she sat before the fire pit. The camp was much like that of what she, and Hazaar, had seen in their experiences—a white sheet, that was thrown over a branch and weighted down by rocks, and a fire pit with a man-made cooker on it.

Guyunis was fast in running into his tent; thanks to the shadows that she was seeing, she knew that he was stuffing everything that he owned into a bag of some sort. It was only when the bag looked to be full that he stopped, then reached back in for something. After taking the item from his bag, he left his tent then came towards her.

"I sort of stole the pen from the place tha-k-t handles my adoptions, mum. I don-k-t know if you have to sign anything-k but, just in case you do, I'd like for you to have something-k to write with." Guyunis said after giving the manila envelope, and a pen, to her.

With them two items in her possession, he returned to packing what was his; with all of his things looking to be gathered, and safely on him, he turned his attention towards the dismantling of his camp. She had the envelope open, and was taking everything that was in it out, when he was taking his tent down—all while working on taking his camp down, he looked over his shoulder at her; she knew that he was only doing this to see if she was in the area and was doing anything with what he had just given her. After his tent was down, she saw that he had a few things that were too big to be put in his bag, which looked rather old and jean-like in origin.

A piece of twine, or wire, was used to tie the wild boar skull, and the two pelts and sets of antlers, to his bag then the tent, which looked like a fitted sheet, was rolled up and then tied on underneath them. With this done, he grabbed his things then came towards her; before sitting beside her, then placing his head on the shoulder that wasn't damp, he smothered the fire out then filled its pit with moist dirt.

"Everything-k okay, mum?" he asked. He, after sitting beside her, had seen that she had a square-shaped slab of rock on her lap. After noticing the rock, he saw that each of the forms, that were in the envelope, were out and on it; it looked like she was re-doing a lot of what was on them.

"I'm glad that they included some blanks with these, G. A lot of the information is wrong." Angel replied.

"No surprise there—humans don-k-t seem to want to do anything-k right anymore." Guyunis said.

The information on the family that had had her son before her was correct; she was glad that their history, along with that of their ancestors' history, with Guyunis was on the forms but she was very shocked over seeing that the information on Guyunis himself was wrong.

The agency either didn't or hadn't included Guyunis's birth information in his records; they had it as just June 2000, no day was listed—since she didn't know the time of his birth, she couldn't list that on his records. The information on who his parents were was missing, and so was the information on who his grandparents, great-grandparents, and so on too.

She did have to sign three pages; the page, that requested for the new family to list the new name that they desired to give their new child, was put to the side until later. The act of Guyunis stealing a pen from the agency that handled his adoptions was heard and then discarded—she was sure that the place could get another pen, and she was sure that it didn't miss the one that was stolen from them. While she didn't mind the pen being stolen, she did mind that the forms were so badly done. Before re-doing the birth information and parentage pages, she turned to look and then speak with her son.

"You wish to go by the name that I gave you after we first met or do you want a new one?" she asked after signing the three pages that required her signature.

"I've grown at-k-tached to Guyuns—jus-k-t as long as Meyer isn't apart of wha-k-t I'm named, I'm okay with what you give me." Guyunis answered. "Can you refresh my memory on wha-k-t you named me?"

"GuyunisVile Lytro Surfeit—I named you traditionally. In the tradition of your paternal's side of the family." Angel replied. "Do you wish to have that name, or something different?"

"Wha-k-t names do my bruders go by?" Guyunis asked.

"Only Bile doesn't follow in tradition." Angel replied. "Lhaklar's name is LhaklarVile Closhu Surfeit. Hazaar's is HazaarVile Tlair Surfeit and Lazeer's is LazeerVile Zuluduz Surfeit."

"What's Bile's full name?" Guyunis asked.

"Bile Vile."

"None go by your las-k-t name?"

"Bile was forced to have his daddy's surname. Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer have their daddy's surname." Angel replied.

"Bile's by a different dat, right?" Guyunis asked.

"Right." Angel decided to spare the details of her oldest son's paternity. She didn't want to shock or confuse Guyunis.

Guyunis said that he wished to be named in tradition of his sire's family; he said that he'd feel funny if the name of Irene followed his given name, which Angel jokingly agreed with, and he also said that Guyunis Vile didn't sound right. After telling her what he wanted to go by, she started the process of redoing all of what had been written on the two pages that needed to be worked on. He watched as she did this.

Name of Child: GuyunisVile Lytro Surfeit  
Time of Birth: ?  
Date of Birth: 27 June 2000  
Mother's Name: Lisa Ann Wahlberg  
Father's Name: ShaamVile Kondee Surfeit  
Mother's Age Upon Birth of Child: 29 Yrs  
Father's Age Upon Birth of Child: 298,112 Yrs

"My dat was sure old when he got my birth-mum pregnan-k-t with me." Guyunis said after seeing how old his father was at the time of his conception.

"He sure was." Angel returned before going on in putting the rest of what she knew on her son on the two forms.

Mother's Mother's Name: Rebecca Smith  
Mother's Father's Name: George Wahlberg

(No other information on Mother's side known)

Father's Mother's Name: Frahfrie Cloridona  
Father's Father's Name: RaalVile Dawlur Surfeit  
Father's Grandmother's Name: Dablonie Noshibol  
Father's Grandfather's Name: IackVile Uovo Surfeit  
Father's Great-Grandmother's Name: Henratantya Vishroni  
Father's Great-Grandfather's Name: WexVile Surfeit  
Father's Great-Great-Grandmother's Name: Wilabolia Shaola  
Father's Great-Great-Grandfather's Name: LynkVile Surfeit

"And your line goes much farther back than that." Angel said. Remembering what she had put on the form, pertaining to her son's paternal's side of the family, was hard work, so she decided to stop after writing down Lynk's name—with her knowing nothing else after Lynk, it seemed a safe bet in stopping at him too.

"That's okay, I'm fine with just being-k your son." Guyunis replied.

She filled out the rest of the forms that needed fixing, then she found a few more than needed either her signature or her initials placed on them, then she turned to look at her son. The final three pages of the forms required his signature; after explaining this to him, she gave him the forms, and the pen and slab of rock, then waited for him to do as he needed to do with them. Guyunis was fast in signing the three pages, which said that he was fine with the name given to him, and with the information placed on his forms, and with his adoption, then he gave them back. After having the forms returned to her, she said a spell that'd make a copy of each of them. With the two copies in hand, she returned what she had taken from the envelope to the envelope then stood up. Her son was automatically confused after she gave him the envelope that had the original copies in it.

"The originals are always more important than the copies, Guyunis. I want you to have the original copy of these, okay?" she explained after seeing his confusion.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I want you to be in charge of your life. If you aren't happy with me being your mother—"

"But I _am_ happy with you being my mutter!" Guyunis exclaimed.

"Still, I want you to be in charge of the original copy of your forms—if you find yourself as not being happy with me, or with the life provided by me, I want you to tear them up."

"But I will be happy with you being my mutter." Guyunis insisted. To emphasize this, he grabbed her in a deep hug.

"I can't guarantee that it'll be peaches and cream all the time, Guyunis." Angel said. To not laugh after he gave her such a deep hug was a crime, so she did so. "There will be times when discipline will need to be used."

"Discipline?" Guyunis blinked his eyes.

"You don't think I'm going to let you run around like you've lost your head, do you?" Angel asked. "I'm not going to hurt you any, baby. Just the normal discipline will do done—a grounding, or a whapping with a dish towel. None of that other disciplinary crap that you've been given over the years."

"Oh, okay. I'll do my best to be good, though." Guyunis said.

"I'm sure you will." Angel chuckled. With this said, she reached for her son's things. After having them, she stood up. "You let me carry this now. Think after what you've gone through, it's time that you carry yourself for a while."

"It's heavy, mum..." Guyunis said. He half-heartily reached for his bag and hunting trophies.

"Nothing of yours is too heavy for me, G." Angel said. She gently placed her hand on Guyunis's shoulder. "Let's go meet your brothers now. It's time for you started your new, easy, happy, and very different life."


End file.
